The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the 2023/2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS ) in Niger State.
The federal commissioner of the commission from the state, Muhammad Dattijo Usman, told a news conference in Minna yesterday that the aim was to gather high quality data on a wide range of vital indicators.
The indicators he listed included fertility rate, maternal and child health, contraceptive use, childhood mortality, gender related issues, nutrition, HIV/AIDS awareness and others.
He said this was to enable evidence-based planning and resource allocation as well as provide data to support needs of maternal and child health and family planning.
Usman said this would in turn strengthen the capacity for data collection, analysis and utilisation for national ownership of the process by using collected data to identify demographic and health related basic Social needs , develop equitable growth strategies, address social poverty and align with national development strategies.
He disclosed that the program is a multi- ministerial one with efforts by the federal ministry of health, National Bureau of Statistics, federal ministry of women affairs, with United States Agency for International Development USAID providing both financial and technical support.
The commissioner said other notable partners include United Nations Population Funds, the global fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF and WHO.
He expressed confidence that with the desired support the programme would overcome the complexities of data collection and analysis to emerge with insights that would shape policies, drive progress and improve lives.
