Vusumuzi Dube
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency will be conducting the 2023 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) from 17 November 2023 to 30 April 2024.
The survey aims to provide up-to-date information on fertility and mortality levels, education, employment, child care, prevalence of anaemia, maternal health care, family planning practices, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, and violence against women, among others.
In a statement Zimstat said the survey will be conducted on a nationally representative sample of 11,200 households randomly selected across the country’s ten provinces.
“Demographic and health data will be collected with respect to women, men and children.
Statistics produced through the ZDHS are key to the Government as they inform the design 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 other uses,” they said.
A modular approach will be used in undertaking the 2023 ZDHS to which four questionnaires will be administered looking at the following;
Household questionnaire
Information collected through this questionnaire relates to households and their respective members.
“This includes age, sex, marital status, highest educational attainment, employment status, source of water, type of toilet facility, ownership of various durable goods and availability of electricity. In addition, salt used for cooking by the households will be tested for the presence of iodine,” they said.
The second questionnaire for women aged 15-49.
This questionnaire is designed to collect information from women 15-49 years old. The information to be collected includes but is not limited to knowledge of contraception, maternal health care, breastfeeding and other feeding practices, vaccinations and childhood illnesses, children born in the last five years and domestic violence among other areas of interest to the survey.
The third questionnaire is for men aged 15-54.
Information will be collected with respect to reproduction, fertility preferences, marriage and sexual activity, knowledge of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, among others.
The fourth Biomarker questionnaire
Speaks to the nutrition status of individual respondents will be assessed through anaemia testing and anthropometric measurements with respect to height and weight.
“The anthropometric measurements will be taken from individuals in 50 percent of survey households and focus on children under 5 years, women 15-49 years, and men 15-54 years. The blood test will be performed on children 6-59 months, women aged 15 to 49 and men aged 15 to 54 years.
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