DHS in the News - COVID-19

Journalists worldwide write about The DHS Program results. The dissemination of DHS, SPA and HIV data is often widely covered by media in survey countries, but journalists also use The DHS Program data throughout the year as background information for their stories, or to compare health and development indicators across countries. These data are also used by journalists in the United States and other developed countries, as it is considered the gold standard of population, health and nutrition data. Below are some examples of recent news coverage. Please note: The links below are to websites outside The DHS Program.

Jan 08, 2021
Bill gives refuge to Nairobi gender violence victims

Collins Omulo
BUSINESS DAILY (Nairobi, Kenya)

"...The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2014 found that 45 percent of women and girls aged 15 and above had experienced physical violence and 14 percent subjected to sexual violence..."

https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/data-hub/bill-gives-refuge-to-nairobi-gender-violence-victims-3250380
Jan 03, 2021
Recovering from the Great Fall of 2020

Amir Ullah Khan
DECCAN HERALD (India)

"...The National Family Health Survey-4 had shown that 38% of children under five are stunted, 21% are wasted, 36% are underweight, and 2% are overweight. However, it had also shown remarkable improvement in these indicators over the decade since 2005. However, NFHS-5, released this year, shows that we have lost all the gains made previously. Stunting has gone up in 13 states and the number of underweight children in 16 of the 22 states surveyed. And we haven’t even heard from some of India’s worst-performing states on these indicators..."

https://www.deccanherald.com/specials/sunday-spotlight/recovering-from-the-great-fall-of-2020-934570.html
Dec 21, 2020
The bid for harmless mosquitoes

Killiad Sinide
THE STANDARD: HEALTH (Nairobi, Kenya)

"...Data from the 2015 Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey also showed that 27 per cent of children younger than 15 years were found to be positive for malaria in the lake region of Kenya..."

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/health-science/article/2001397949/the-bid-for-harmless-mosquitoes
Dec 18, 2020
Using agent based modeling and telecom data to inform COVID-19 response

Sveta Milusheva, Sophie Ayling, George Joseph, Chenjerai Sisimayi, and Aivin Solatorio
WORLD BANK BLOGS

"...Information on mobility dynamics can feed into decision making around how to control the spread of the virus. We developed an Agent Based Model (ABM) which simulates how the virus could spread across and between districts using census and DHS data to characterize individuals..."

https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/using-agent-based-modeling-and-telecom-data-inform-covid-19-response
Dec 17, 2020
Next Level Agenda in the journey towards UHC: Health for All Nigerians

Aloysius Ugwu and Michael Atima
NIGERIA HEALTH WATCH (Abuja, Nigeria)

"...Over the years the Nigerian health system has faced very poor health outcomes. Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is 512 per 100,000 live births according to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, infant mortality rate is 67 per 1,000 live births and the under 5 mortality rate is 132 per 1,000 live births..."

https://nigeriahealthwatch.com/next-level-agenda-in-the-journey-towards-uhc-health-for-all-nigerians/