The National Population Commission on Tuesday gave an update on the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), with the Chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra emphasising that it symbolises the culmination of strategic planning, collaborative efforts and commitment to advance field of knowledge, policy formulation and health landscape of the nation.
The update was given at a press briefing by the State Director of NPC in Oyo State, Mr Akinloye Oyetunde, on behalf of the chairman, at the Commission’s office in Ibadan.
According to Hon. Kwarra, the survey, which the Commission spearheaded its implementation over three decades ago, in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, had been instrumental in providing invaluable insights that inform evidence-based policies, enhance public health interventions and contribute to the broader development agenda of the nation.
He stated further that the survey had been elevated from a research initiative to a cornerstone of dependable demographic and health metrics for Nigeria.
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He expressed appreciation to partner agencies, including National Bureau of Statistics and Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, as well as primary funding and technical expertise by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
In addition, the Chairman thanked the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Global Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and others whose support, according to him, had been indispensable in bringing the survey to its present stage.
Hon. Kwarra assured that the data that would be collected and analysed would not merely be of numerical values but would represent the health aspirations and challenges of communities in the nation.
The South West Zone Coordinator of NDHS, Mr Rotimi Ilelaboye, who spoke on the objective of the exercise, said that it is to gather information about the population and the health situation in the country, with indicators in reproduction, malaria, HIV, female genital cutting, among others.
The Zonal Coordinator said that the information would be useful for the government to plan for the health sector.
He disclosed that the NDHS comes up every five years, with the last one conducted in 2018.
He mentioned the six states under the South West Zone to include Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti.
Mr Ilelaboye said that in Oyo State, the exercise has a nine-member team that would cover the 23 Local Government Areas and 43 clusters, disclosing that 11 LGAs and 27 clusters had been covered already.
He added that it would be concluded in April.
He said that the data gathered would be used by the government for policy making in relation to health issues.
