Recognition by CDC of the Institute's Violent Death Surveillance System

Announcements
IEPR
26 December 2025

PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

May 24, 2018

The Puerto Rico Violent Death Surveillance System developed by the Institute is recognized as the best new program by the Division of Violence Prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

San Juan, PR, May 24, 2018 — The Puerto Rico Violent Death Surveillance System (PRVDRS, in English) developed and established by the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), thanks to a proposal approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been recognized as the best of the new programs established by the Division of Violence Prevention of this entity.

This was announced by the Executive Director of the Institute, Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, who said he was pleased with the recognition and extraordinary work of the team in charge of the Institute, led by Dr. Idania Rodríguez Ayuso, the Institute's senior manager of Statistical Projects, and Dr. Diego E. Zavala, co-researcher of the project. “This important recognition demonstrates that statistical information can be collected in an agile, timely and systematic manner by government entities in Puerto Rico and that it complies with federal requirements. We are grateful for this recognition, which has been the result of the efforts of a committed and excellent work team. We are also grateful for the collaboration of the Demographic Registry of the Department of Health, the Puerto Rico Police and the Forensic Science Bureau, which, with the provision of the necessary data for its operation, are also part of this important achievement,” said Dr. Marazzi-Santiago.

The PRVDRS is an active, continuous epidemiological surveillance system that collects information on violent deaths. It uses multiple sources of data and incorporates them into a single database, using the ecological model of public health. It began in September 2016 and began collecting data on violent deaths starting in January 2017. The proposal, funded by the CDC, lasts 5 years.

Data is collected in a systematic way to be a single reference base with complete and accurate data. They are obtained from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, the Forensic Science Bureau and the Department of Health's Demographic Registry. The system seeks to achieve standardization using specific definitions and providing comprehensive information on the context in which deaths occur. This will help identify risk factors (e.g. job loss, mental health problems, family problems and other stressors).

The PRVDRS will also provide data related to the magnitude of violence and trends at different geographical levels. All of this will be essential to support the monitoring and evaluation of violence prevention programs and strategies in Puerto Rico. The PRVDRS has an Advisory Board and a Review Group. The latter discusses the discrepancies found in data collection. In addition, it is part of the Institute and currently has three employees assigned to it and a total of 12 people in total working on the project.

Based on data from the Bureau of Forensic Sciences, the homicide rate in Puerto Rico in 2014 was 20.11 per 100,000 inhabitants, four times higher than the equivalent rate for the United States (4.8). The latest data available for the United States is from 2014 and is based on information provided by 18 states, representing 22.5% of the United States population. For more information about the CDC's NVDRS you can access the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nvdrs/stateprofiles.html

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The Institute has in its inventory, accessible through https://estadisticas.pr.gov, about 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a custodian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through https://data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: https://www.indicadores.pr.

In addition, as the leading entity of the SDC in Puerto Rico, the Institute manages the SDC portal, which contains the main statistical reports and publications of the U.S. Census Bureau on Puerto Rico, specifically those that are most in demand, such as annual population estimates; the Puerto Rico Community Survey (Puerto Rico Community Survey) and official statistics on Puerto Rico's 10-year population and housing censuses, among others. The Puerto Rico SDC portal can be accessed through: https://censo.estadisticas.pr/.

For more information you can visit our website: https://estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook accounts (https://www.facebook.com/estadisticas.pr), Twitter (https://twitter.com/estadisticaspr) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/instituto-de-estadisticas-de-puerto-rico).

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Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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Free workshops and webinars at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

Free workshops and webinars at the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

For government officials and the general public

Starting today, Wednesday, February 22, 2023, pre-registration begins for the free offer of workshops and webinars offered by the Statistics Institute of Puerto Rico. This virtual offer of nine workshops with 16 sessions and three webinars seeks to provide solutions in the access, management and analysis of government statistical data and is carried out with rigor and quality in the development of content that is carried out by specialists.

The online format offers the opportunity to participate to government officials and the general public, since the format is asynchronous, that is, within the time available to the participant. In the same way, multiple sessions are included, allowing participants the flexibility to enroll on those dates that are most convenient. Interested individuals can complete pre-enrollment at Academy

The topics included are:

      • R statistical analysis software: one of the most commonly used open-access and user-friendly software for Data analytics and Data Science.
        • R basic: introductory workshop to help publicize and facilitate the adoption of this programming language for people interested in strengthening their resources for the processing, analysis, visualization and presentation of their statistical research.
        • RStudio: introduction to the integrated development environment (IDE, in English) for managing R, in the analysis, visualization and presentation of statistical analyses.
        • Tidycensus: R library that facilitates the access and processing of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, such as the Census, population estimates and the Community Survey.
      • Tableau Public: free platform that allows the use of interface commands to explore, create and publish data and visualizations online.
      • Resources from the U.S. Census Bureau:
        • Population and housing data: presentation and performance of practical exercises on the tool https://data.census.gov/ to search for data on population and housing in Puerto Rico.
        • Access to microdata from the Community Survey: tool for customizing variable crosses for the analysis of population and housing data in Puerto Rico.
        • QGIS for analyzing data by geographical regions: QGIS is an open source Geographic Information System (GIS). Together with data from the U.S. Census Bureau, maps can be generated to analyze housing, economic, social and demographic issues.
      • Resources from the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics:
        • Cost of Living Index and Calculator: presentation of a publication and Web App that allows us to compare the cost of living in Puerto Rico and different urban areas of the United States.
        • The Violent Death Surveillance System in Puerto Rico: project presentation and publication of data on violent deaths from a health perspective.

On the other hand, webinars are live sessions, in which participants can connect via the Internet to a platform where they can see and hear the speaker and ask the speaker questions after the session is completed.

The topics of the three webinars, with a capacity of 1,000 participants each, are:

  • Dominican population in Puerto Rico and its contrasts with the Puerto Rican population, 2015-2019: exposure to the microdata files of the U.S. Census Bureau and an example of their application to the study of the sociodemographic profile of the Dominican population living in Puerto Rico.
  • Geographic Delimitations of the U.S. Census Bureau: guidance on the various geographical levels used by the U.S. Census Bureau for the presentation of its data.
  • Violence and Femicide in Puerto Rico - Concepts and Statistics: aimed at advising participants on the importance of statistics on gender-based violence and femicide from a health perspective.

To access all the details of the Academies and Workshops Program, see Here.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is a governmental entity in the executive branch, with fiscal and administrative autonomy, whose main purpose is to ensure that Puerto Rico has complete, reliable statistics that are quickly and universally accessible. To learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook accounts (@statistics.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR), Instagram (@institutodeestadisticas) and LinkedIn (Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics).

They request collaboration to complete a survey on parenting experiences
They request collaboration to complete a survey on parenting experiences

ESCAPE and the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute join efforts to develop the First Survey on the Parenting Experience in Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico — February 27, 2025. ESCAPE, Center for Family Strengthening, in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Statistics Institute (Institute), are developing the Survey on the Parenting Experience in Puerto Rico. This initiative seeks to gather valuable information about the experiences of mothers, fathers and guardians (people who are responsible for the upbringing of children) with the objective of strengthening efforts for the prevention of child abuse and developing more effective programs to serve families according to their needs

The executive director of ESCAPE, Yadira Pizarro Quiles, requested citizen collaboration by completing and sharing a survey and highlighted the importance of this tool for designing more precise, relevant and relevant intervention strategies. “Every family in Puerto Rico faces unique challenges, and with this survey we will be able to better understand their realities. The data collected will allow us to evaluate existing programs and develop more effective initiatives to support parents and caregivers in parenting, thus strengthening efforts to prevent child abuse,” said Pizarro.

Participation in the Puerto Rico Parenting Experience Survey is completely voluntary and is intended for those who are responsible for raising one or more children under 18 years of age in Puerto Rico. The questionnaire, which lasts approximately 20 to 30 minutes, guarantees the confidentiality of the answers, which will be anonymous and securely stored by the Institute.

The questionnaire is structured in seven sections: Sociodemographic data of the child, Experiences and Expectations, Discipline and Communication, Technology and Quality Time, Support Needs and Future, Socio-Demographic Data on the Respondent and a Closure and Feedback.

The executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, Dr. Orville M. Disdier, highlighted the value of data and statistics in the formulation of prevention strategies. “Access to up-to-date and reliable information is key to making informed decisions. With this survey, we will be able to generate data that will not only help us better understand the dynamics of parenting in Puerto Rico, but also serve as a basis for the creation of public policies that reinforce the protection and well-being of children. That's why it's important to have the support of all sectors helping to share and complete this survey,” he said.

The survey can be accessed at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/crianzamenores

To coordinate collaborative efforts, you can contact Mrs. Lourdes Burgos at 787-562-2932.

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Contact: Lourdes Burgos, R-27 - Cell. 787-562-2932

About ESCAPE:

ESCAPE, Family Strengthening Center, was the first non-profit organization created on the Island (1983) with the mission of preventing child abuse. The organization is dedicated to supporting and educating families, parents and the community in general about healthy and positive ways to relate, communicate and above all to raise, care for and protect children and adolescents from violence and abuse.

About the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access.

Portal of the Institute of Statistics has a new home: www.estadisticas.pr

Portal of the Institute of Statistics has a new home: www.estadisticas.pr