Title 10, Health and Safety

COL 2026-04-23 The Chief Public Health Officer shall be the Chief Administrative Officer of the Division.

The Division shall comply with all federal requirements and procedures necessary for administration of grants-in-aid and cooperative agreements.

The Director shall, in accordance with the Administrative Adjudication Law, adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations necessary to fulfill the duties of the Division.

(a) The Director is authorized to establish fees for health services in accordance with the Administrative Adjudication Law and as may be required to qualify for grants-in-aid. (b) Fees established by the Department of Public Health and Social Services shall not be a deterrent to…

Planning Program Fees. (a) The Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) Bureau of Family Health and Nursing Services (BFHNS) shall promulgate the required fee schedule for health services provided by the Family Planning (FP) Program, in accordance with the Administ…

The Department of Public Health and Social Services is authorized to have a Chief Pharmacist for the Northern and Southern Community Health Centers and a Chief Pharmacist for the Central Public Health Facility. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 28-068:II:III:29:b (Sept. 30, 2005).

The Director shall appoint one of the classified physician specialists as Medical Director, to perform collateral administrative and clinical medical duties for the Department. The Medical Director should be a physician specialist preferably in a field of practice or multiple spe…

There is hereby established within the Department of Public Health and Social Services an Office of Vital Statistics which shall install, maintain and operate the system of vital statistics for Guam.

(a) There is hereby established within the Department of Public Health and Social Services ('DPHSS') a Guam Cancer Registry, which shall operate under the supervision of the Division of Public Health, Office of Epidemiology and Research, to collect information on all cases of can…

COL 2026-04-23 The Director of Public Health and Social Services (the Director) has general supervision of vital statistics and is responsible for the implementation of the provisions of this article.

The Director shall appoint a Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics, and such other officers and personnel as may be required to carry out the provisions of this article. Such employees shall be members of the classified services of the government of Guam. 2017 NOTE: References to “t…

Mayors, under the direction of the President of the Mayors’ Council, shall assist in the implementation of this article and in doing so shall be governed by this article and by regulation issued by the Director under the provisions of this Chapter.

The Director shall make an annual report to the Governor concerning vital statistics and the enforcement of this article, which report shall contain a summary on a municipal district basis of such statistics.

The Director is authorized to adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations as may be necessary in his judgment, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article. Such rules and regulations, and any other rules and regulations authorized or required to be issued und…

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following definitions shall apply to this article: (a) Vital Statistics means records of birth, death, fetal death, adoption, marriage, divorce and data related thereto. COL 2026-04-23 (b) System of vital statistics includes the …

(a) The Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics shall: (1) Administer and enforce this article and the rules and regulations issued hereunder, and issue instructions for the efficient administration of the Guam system of vital statistics. (2) Direct and supervise the Guam-wide system …

COL 2026-04-23 (a) In order to promote and maintain uniformity in the system of vital statistics, the forms of certificates, reports and other returns required by this article, or by regulations adopted hereunder, shall include as a minimum the items recommended by the Federal ag…

(a) The birth of each and every child born in Guam shall be registered within ten (10) days after birth, as hereinafter provided. (b) When a birth occurs in an institution, the person in charge of the institution shall obtain the personal data, prepare the certificate and file it…

Parentage. (a) Whoever assumes custody of a living infant of unknown parentage shall report on a form and in the manner prescribed by the Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics, within seven (7) days, the following information: (l) The date and place of finding the child; (2) Sex, co…

(a) Birth: (1) When a birth of a person either born in Guam, or who is a non-U.S. citizen born in a foreign country and adopted by a resident of Guam has not been registered, a certificate may be filed in accordance with the regulations of the Office of Vital Statistics. Such cer…

(a) If a delayed certificate of birth is rejected under the provisions of § 3212 of this Article, a petition may be filed with the Superior Court of Guam for an order establishing a record of the date and place of birth and the parentage of the person whose birth is to be registe…

(a) For each adoption decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction, the court shall require the preparation of a certificate of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics. The certificate shall include such facts as are necessary to loca…

Legitimation and Paternity Determination. (a) The Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics shall establish a new certificate of birth for a person when he or she receives one (1) of the following: (1) An adoption report as provided in § 3214 of this Article, or a certified copy of the …

The Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics shall, upon request, establish a new certificate of birth for a person born in a foreign country when in receipt of a report of adoption decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction, proof of the date and place of the person’s birth, and a r…

(a) A death certificate for each death which occurs on Guam shall be filed with the Office of Vital Statistics. COL 2026-04-23 (b) The Mayor, upon receiving information of any death within his municipal district, shall report the same immediately to the Office of Vital Statistics…

(a) A fetal death report for each fetal death which occurs in Guam after twenty (20) complete weeks of gestation or more or when a fetus weighs three hundred fifty (350) grams or more, shall be filed with the Office of Vital Statistics within twenty-four (24) hours after such del…

(a) An individual abortion report for each abortion shall be completed by the mother's attending physician, and shall be transmitted directly to the Office of Vital Statistics of the Department of Public Health and Social Services. The report shall be confidential and it shall no…

These printed materials shall state that it is unlawful for any individual to coerce a woman to undergo an abortion. The printed materials shall also state that any physician who performs an abortion upon a woman without her informed consent may be liable to her for damages in a …

The Office of Vital Statistics may, by regulation, and upon such conditions as it may prescribe to assure compliance with the purposes of this article, provide for the extension of the periods prescribed in §§ 3216 and 3217 of this article for the filing of death certificates, fe…

(a) A record of each marriage performed on Guam shall be filed with the Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics as provided in this section. (b) The officer who issues the marriage license shall prepare the license and certificate on the form prescribed and furnished by the Office of …

COL 2026-04-23 (a) For each divorce and annulment of marriage granted by the courts of Guam, a report shall be filed with the Office of Vital Statistics by the clerk of court. (b) On or before the fifteenth (15th) day of each month, the clerk of court shall forward to the Office …

(a) A certificate or record registered under this article may be amended only in accordance with this article and regulations thereunder, adopted by the Department to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital statistics records. (b) A certificate that is amended under this sect…

To preserve original documents, the Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics is authorized to prepare typewritten, photographic or other reproductions of original records and files in his office. Such a reproduction, when certified by him and sealed with an official government seal, sh…

To preserve original records, the Guam Registrar is authorized and directed to microfilm all vital records. All such reproductions shall be equally admissible as competent evidence in all courts of Guam or in any administrative proceeding as the original itself whether the origin…

(a) To protect the integrity, the confidentiality, the validity and the evidentiary value of Vital Statistics Records, to insure their proper use and to insure the efficient and proper administration of the Vital Statistics system, it shall be unlawful for any person to permit in…

In accordance with § 3225 of this article, and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto: (a) The Office of Vital Statistics shall upon request, issue a certified copy of any certificate or record in his custody or of a part thereof. Each copy issued shall show the date of registr…

(a) The Director shall, by regulation, establish fees for certified copies of certificates or records issued; for the search of the files or records when no copy or information is available; for processing a change of name by court order and other means; for amending records; and…

(a) There is hereby established an Office of Vital Statistics Revolving Fund (Fund) to be maintained by the Guam Registrar, Office of Vital Statistics, of the Department of Public Health & Social Services. The Fund shall be established and maintained in a bank account separate an…

Any person having knowledge of the facts, shall furnish such information as he may possess regarding any birth, death, fetal death, marriage or divorce, upon demand of the Guam Registrar of Vital Statistics. 2017 NOTE: References to “territory” and “territorial” removed and/or al…

(a) (l) Any person who willfully and knowingly makes any false statement in a report, record or certificate required to be filed under this article or in an application for amendment thereof or who willfully and knowingly supplies false information intending that such information…

(a) No dead human body or fetus attaining twenty (20) weeks of gestation or more shall be buried, deposited in a crypt, mausoleum or vault, cremated, removed from Guam or otherwise disposed of, unless a burial-transit permit has first been issued therefor by the Office of Vital S…

The right to control the disposition of a dead human body and the duty of burial or other disposition and the liability for the COL 2026-04-23 reasonable cost shall be pursuant to the provisions of § 4A102 and § 4A103 of Chapter 4A of 10 GCA. SOURCE: Added by P.L. 22-130:2 (May 3…

As used in this article: (a) Communicable Disease includes any of the following diseases or conditions which are dangerous to public health: (1) Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (2) Amebiasis (amoebic dysentery); (3) Anthrax; (4) Brucellosis (undulant fever); (5) Chancr…

COL 2026-04-23 Any person licensed or registered to practice any healing art under Chapter 12 of this Title who has knowledge of or suspects the presence of any communicable disease or any other disease dangerous to the public health, shall report the same to the Director within …

The superintendent, chief medical officer, nurse in charge or other person in charge of any hospital, clinic, dispensary, infirmary, medical aid station or other establishment providing medical care, either to the general public or otherwise, who has knowledge of the presence of …

The director, administrator, chief officer or other person in charge of any laboratory, public or private, performing any test or examinations upon persons or their blood, urine, feces or any other body products shall, upon identification or suspected identification of an etiolog…