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.

Dec 10, 2020
IT Systems Geared Up During COVID-19 To Help Future Uplift Of Health Sector: President Dr Arif Alvi

Muhammad Irfan
URDUPOINT/PAKISTAN POINT NEWS (Islamabad, Pakistan)

"...Addressing a webinar on Pakistan Maternal Mortality Survey, the president said the efficiency achieved in IT sector by Pakistan during the pandemic could otherwise have taken 10 years to reach the point..."

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/it-systems-geared-up-during-covid-19-to-help-1110044.html
Dec 07, 2020
Three ways geospatial data can help Pakistan during COVID-19

Emcet O. Tas and Najaf Zahra
WORLD BANK BLOGS

"...Combined with statistical modeling and machine learning tools, satellite imagery and survey data can help identify potential hot spots and facilitate local responses. We recently collaborated with Fraym, a geospatial analysis firm, on a mapping exercise for Pakistan. The analysis combined geotagged household survey data (Demographic and Health Survey 2018) with satellite imagery to create localized population information at the level of one-square-kilometer..."

https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/three-ways-geospatial-data-can-help-pakistan-during-covid-19
Dec 06, 2020
Kebbi challenges typify why Nigeria has failed to meet malaria eradication target

Chiamaka Okafor
PREMIUM TIMES (Nigeria)

"...The prevalence of malaria (according to microscopy) among children aged 6-59 months was 23 per cent that same year; down from 42 per cent in 2010, with an average decline of 2.3 per cent per annum, according to the 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS)..."

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/429629-kebbi-challenges-typify-why-nigeria-has-failed-to-meet-malaria-eradication-target.html
Dec 04, 2020
It’s time to step up war against gender violence

Evelyn Samba
THE STANDARD (Nairobi, Kenya)

"...According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2014, 45 per cent of women and girls aged 15 to 49 reported to have experienced physical violence. Many cases are usually not reported to authorities and few women get justice or receive medical care..."

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/commentary/article/2001396171/its-time-to-step-up-war-against-gender-violence
Nov 27, 2020
Using Satellite Imagery and Nighttime Lights to Understand the Impact of COVID-19 across Southeast Asian Cities

Stephanie Sy, Anica Araneta, Hanif Rahemtulla, Bruno Carrasco, and Stella Balgos
THINKING MACHINES (Singapore)

"...Combining nighttime lights with data from the 2017 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from 27,496 households nationwide, we found that wealthier urban areas in the Philippines are still affected by lockdown as nighttime lights continued to dim since February 2020 (Figure 7). In comparison, rural areas that ranked lower on the wealth index with more relaxed lockdown measures have shown some recovery in terms of the brightness of lights from April to August 2020. For the top 5% of the wealthiest clusters in the Philippines, there was a -112% dimming from February to August 2020, while the remaining 95% dimmed by only -22% over the same time period (Figure 8)..."

https://stories.thinkingmachin.es/nighttime-lights-covid-19-southeast-asia/