Community-Minimal Invasive Tissue Sampling (cMITS) using a modified ambulance for ascertaining the cause of death: A novel approach piloted in a remote inaccessible rural area in India.

Background: Melghat in India is a hilly, forested, difficult to access, impoverished rural area in northeast part of Maharashtra (Central India) with difficult healthcare access. Melghat has very high Mortality rates, because of grossly inadequate medical facilities. (1) Home deaths contribute to 67% of deaths,(2) which are difficult to track and where cause of death is mostly unknown.