By Muhammad Amaan
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has inaugurated an expert group to oversee Nigeria’s annual mini-Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).
Pate, at the 2024 Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review (JAR) on Friday in Abuja, emphasised the importance of bridging the data gap between five-yearly national NDHS surveys.
JAR is a crucial platform for advancing the principles of Nigeria’s Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), bringing together stakeholders to reflect on progress made, evaluate challenges and identify areas for further improvement.
He said the creation of the annual mini-DHS would enable more frequent and accurate monitoring of Nigeria’s health landscape.
“The annual mini-DHS survey is designed to provide timely, actionable data that will inform healthcare policies and interventions, enabling the government to respond quickly to emerging health challenges and evolving community needs.
“Our shared purpose is to strengthen the foundations of our National Health Data System and to ensure we can accurately track and measure our progress within the sector.
“We don’t want to know four years later that what we have been doing has not made an impact, but if it is not working, then we can correct ourselves and if it is working, then we can do more of it,” Pate said.
He said the taskforce, comprising leading health professionals, statisticians, and international partners, aimed to provide timely, actionable data to inform healthcare policies and interventions.
The taskforce includes representatives from government agencies, international organisations, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank, and others.
They will guide the technical execution of the mini-DHS survey, ensuring accuracy and relevance.
