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.

Jul 29, 2020
Pandemic to double deaths from malaria says Fed Govt

Moses Emorinken
THE NATION ONLINE (Nigeria)

"...It, however, revealed that malaria prevalence in the country has dropped from 42 per cent to 23 per cent, according to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report. Also, key indicators such as intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp), net use, seeking care during fever and use of the appropriate anti-malarial have improved..."

https://thenationonlineng.net/pandemic-to-double-deaths-from-malaria-says-fed-govt/
Jul 13, 2020
Liberia Maternal Health Services Under Stress Amidst COVID-19

DAILY OBSERVER (Liberia)

"...But the Liberia Demographic and Health Survey 2019-20 released in May this year, speaks of some improvements in the country’s health data as about 80 percent of births occurred at health facilities; and 87 percent of women had four or more prenatal care visits..."

https://www.liberianobserver.com/news/liberias-maternal-health-services-under-stress-amidst-covid-19/
Jul 05, 2020
The 17-member family that lived together ate together and got coronavirus together

Joanna Slater
WASHINGTON POST (United States of America)

"...In India, it is common for multiple generations of a family to live under one roof, something that is a source of cultural pride. Government statistics show that 42 percent of households are 'nonnuclear' families..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-coronavirus-garg-family/2020/07/04/22b59514-b4e2-11ea-9a1d-d3db1cbe07ce_story.html
Jun 24, 2020
The problem with staying at home - COVID-19 and domestic violence

Khin Khin Mra
FRONTIER (Myanmar)

"...The Ministry of Health’s 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey found that more than one in five married women had been beaten by their husbands, and more than half of women believed that wife beating was justified in certain circumstances. Only 1pc sought help from the police and more than one-third never told anyone what they had been through..."

https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-problem-with-staying-at-home-covid-19-and-domestic-violence/
Jun 20, 2020
COVID-19 and Anxiety Over Declining Family Planning Services

The Society for Meida Advocacy on Health Nigeria (Leadership Nigeria)

"...The 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report revealed that if fertility were to remain constant at current levels, a woman in Nigeria would bear an average of 5.3 children in her lifetime. While fertility is low among adolescents (107 births per 1,000 women), the report showed that it peaks at 256 births per 1,000 among women aged from 25 to 59 years and fertility is higher among rural women than among urban women. On average, rural women will give birth to about 1.4 children more than urban women during their reproductive years (5.9 and 4.5, respectively)..."

https://leadership.ng/2020/06/20/covid-19-anxiety-over-declining-family-planning-services/