DESCRIPTION:

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India (GoI).  Unlike NFHS-1 and 2 which were largely USAID funded, funding for the 2005-06 survey (NFHS-3) was provided in conjunction with five other partners - DFID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF,UNFPA and GoI.  The primary objectives of NFHS are to:

•  Strengthen India’s demographic and health database by estimating reliable state-level and national-level indicators of population, maternal and child health, and nutrition.

•  Facilitate evidence-based decision making in population, health and nutrition programs.

•  Strengthen the survey research capabilities of Indian institutions.

•  Provide high quality data to policymakers, health and population program managers, government agencies, NGOs, PVOs, international agencies and researchers.

KEY ACTIVITIES:

•  NFHS surveys are conducted following the rigorous standards of the international Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program.

•  Surveys use uniform questionnaires, sample designs, field procedures and methods of biomarker measurement to facilitate comparability of the data and to achieve a high level of data quality.

•  Surveys are the outcome of the collaborative effort of many organizations, led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and GoI.  The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, is the nodal agency for carrying out these surveys.  ICF Macro and its MEASURE DHS partners provide technical assistance.  The fieldwork is carried out by more than 25 Indian research organizations, including population research centers, academic institutions and survey research firms.

•  The NFHS-3 national report and 29 state reports recently published and disseminated.  Subject reports based on NFHS-3 data in areas of urban health, nutrition, gender and the health of young persons are being developed to inform policy makers and program managers.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

•  NFHS created a comprehensive and reliable population and health database for India based on interviews with more than 400,000 adults and biomarker measurements conducted on more than 300,000 blood samples. Estimates provided by NFHS are considered to be the highest standard in India.

•  NFHS data and findings are made widely available to program managers, policymakers, researchers, analysts, and the media through a variety of channels (reports, website, videos, wall charts, briefing books and CDs).

•  NFHS data is extensively used in the formulation of India’s Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Five-Year Plans, the National Health Policy, the National Nutrition Policy, the Family Welfare Program and for monitoring RCH programs, developing India’s Initiative to Eliminate Hunger and improving the ICDS program;

•  NFHS-3 provided the first ever HIV prevalence estimate for the general population of India and five of the six high prevalence states and U.P.

•  NFHS-3 data drew the attention of high level policymakers to the malnutrition situation in the country and was instrumental in revitalizing the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) program and the use of IUDs.

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