Death certificate and death registration in Hong Kong

All medical doctors in Hong Kong are familiar with the death certificate (Fig). Burial could take place only after a valid death certificate had been obtained.2 An essential component of the death certificate was the cause of death, because it facilitated early identification of infectious disease epidemics. When a dead body was brought to a hospital, the medical officer in charge of the hospital, government medical officer or deputised registered medical practitioner would carry out a preliminary external examination of the body and report in writing to the magistrate who might, if he deemed necessary, order an autopsy. [...]patients were often left in the streets to die or dumped in the streets after their death.