Alvin T. Onaka, state Registrar of Vital Statistics and Chief of the Office of Health Status Monitoring for the Hawai'i State Department of Health, has received a national honor for his work.

Onaka was presented with the Halbert L. Dunn Award earlier this month at a meeting of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.

The award recognizes contributions in vital and health statistics. Hawai'i was the first state to require bride and grooms declare both their middle and surnames after marriage, something that helped facilitate the most frequent method of legal name change. The Health Department's Electronic Death Registration System has won national awards.