Health policy impact of the Demographic and Health Surveys program

Over the past 25 years, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program, funded largely by USAID, has conducted over 260 national surveys in over 80 countries and has become one of the most reliable sources of nationally representative and cross-nationally comparable health data in the developing region. The DHS program aims to promote evidence-based policies and programming through improved collection, analysis, and dissemination of good data.

This paper highlights the contributions of the DHS to health policies in participating countries and shares some of the secrets of its success. It is based on a review of published and unpublished documents as well as key informant interviews conducted by the USAID Project Management Team.

Available evidence shows that DHS data have fostered the development and implementation of evidence-based health programming and policies in developing countries and within the international donor community. For example, DHS findings in Egypt directly led the government to pass a law prohibiting female genital cutting in the country. They also led the government of India to make significant changes to its nutritional supplementation program. The results of population-based HIV sero-prevalence surveys have had major effects on HIV/AIDS program in several countries.

The paper concludes by highlighting some of the secret of the success of this program. They include a strong technical foundation, independence of the data, a focus on quality of data, continuous improvement to methods, and a commitment to stay the course with a sense of continuity and history.