By Michael Gwarisa
The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in collaboration with their strategic partner, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) has launched the 2023 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS).
The ZDHS is a periodic survey conducted after five years. Zimbabwe has conducted this survey in 1988,1994, 1999, 2005/06.2010/11 and 2015, Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2023 ZDHS is the 7 th round of this survey. A total of 11 200 households will be covered during this survey and 15 survey teams were deployed on the 2nd of December 2023.
Speaking on behalf of the Health and Child Care Permanent Secretary, Dr Aspect Muanganidze, chief director in the Minsitry, Dr Regard Kangwende said the ZDHS is a key programme in the National Statistical System undertaken every five years in the country, to allow us to periodically monitor changes in population, health and nutrition.
The last round of the ZDHS was conducted in 2015 and this meant the next round was due in 2020. Due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, plans to conduct the survey were put on hold. It therefore means there is a shortage of information from survey data owing to this delay,” said Dr Kangwende.
He added that the Ministry of Health collects routine data from all the health institutions in the country, survey data such as the Demographic and Health Survey is key to understanding the overarching health situation in the country. A number of partners put resources together for the success of the survey and these include Health Resilience Fund, Global Fund, USAID, UNFPA and ICF Macro International.
“This is because not all health events or problems which happen in communities are reported to our health institutions. The survey content is in line with the mandate of the Ministry of Health and Child Care, of providing equitable quality health services and care in Zimbabwe, using the Primary Health Care approach.”
The survey will collect information on reproductive health, child health, nutrition, immunisation, non-communicable diseases, mental health, obstetric fistula, malaria, knowledge of HIV and STIs, fertility, domestic violence, maternal, child and adult mortality,among other topics. Information on sanitation facilities and sources of drinking water will also be collected. The statistics produced will be used to measure the progress the Ministry has made in coordinating and providing related health services since the last survey. The data available allows comparison across geographic areas, age groups, education levels, gender, etc, in line with our principle of leaving no-one and no place Behind.
“My Ministry will use the information to evaluate policies that are currently in place and decide the correct course of action to take, as we accelerate service provision towards achieving Vision 2030. Specifically, the results of the ZDHS will be used to evaluate the Health and Well-Being priority area in the Zimbabwe economic Blueprint, NDS1, and inform formulation of the next strategy for 2026 going forward. It will also inform development of the next Zimbabwe National Health Strategy after the current one ends in 2025,” said Dr Kangwende.
ZIMSTAT Acting Director-General, Mrs Matiwonesa Phiri said the ZDHS will be conducted on a nationally representative sample of 11,200 households randomly selected across the ten provinces of the country.
“Statistics produced through the survey are key to the Government as they inform the design, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes aimed at improving the health and well-being of Zimbabweans, while moving towards equitable growth in which no one and no place is left behind. Other stakeholders also use the statistics in their decision-making processes, programming and research, among others,” said Mrs Phiri.
