The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) - India

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India

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. The NFHS is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India; ORC Macro, Calverton, Maryland, USA and the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, designated IIPS as the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the NFHS. NFHS was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with supplementary support from United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). IIPS collaborated with a number of Field Organizations (FO) for survey implementation. Each FO was responsible for conducting survey activities in one or more states covered by the NFHS. Technical assistance for the NFHS was provided by ORC Macro and the East-West Center.

The first National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) was conducted in 1992-93. The survey collected extensive information on population, health, and nutrition, with an emphasis on women and young children. Eighteen Population Research Centres (PRCs), located in universities and institutes of national repute, assisted IIPS in all stages of conducting NFHS-1. All the state-level and national-level reports for the survey have already been published (48 reports in all).

The second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) was conducted in 1998-99 in all 26 states of India with added features on the quality of health and family planning services, domestic violence, reproductive health, anemia, the nutrition of women, and the status of women. The results of the survey are currently being published.

The third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) was carried out in 2005-2006. Eighteen Research Organizations including five Population Research Centres carried out the survey in 29 states of India. The funding for NFHS-3 is provided by USAID, DFID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, UNFPA, and MOHFW, GOI. ORC Macro, USA, is providing technical assistance for NFHS-3, and the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) are providing technical assistance for the HIV component.

NFHS Reports available on this site

For more comprehensive searches on the site and your convenience we have made several reports available for viewing and download directly from our web site - Kindly visit the main NFHS site more complete and updated information.

National Family Health Survey 2005-2006 (NFHS-3) India Reports

NFHS-3 Fact Sheets - India and 29 States

Key Findings from NFHS-3

The 2005-2006 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), the third in the NFHS series of surveys, provides information on population, health and nutrition in India and each of its 29 States. The survey is based on a sample of households which is representative at the National and State levels. NFHS-3 provides trend data on key indicators and includes information on several new topics, such as HIV/AIDS-related behaviour and the health of slum populations. For the first time, NFHS-3 also provides information on men and unmarried women. In addition, HIV prevalence is measured at the national level and for selected states.

These Fact Sheets presents provisional information on key indicators and trends at the national level. The NFHS-3 fieldwork was conducted by 18 research organizations between December 2005 and August 2006.

State Reports of the following States have been released and key findings disseminated in their respective State capitals.

The Seminar Presentations of the key findings for different states are also available online.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

INTRODUCTION

The survey was carried out as a major component of the Project to strengthen the Survey Research Capabilities of the Population Research Centres in India, initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and funded by the United State Agency for International Development. The International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai (I.I.P.S) , was designated as the nodal agency for providing coordination and technical guidance to the NFHS. The data collection for the NFHS was undertaken by seven Consulting Organizations in collaboration with the concerned Population Research Centres in each State. The East-West Center/Macro International, United States of America, provided technical assistance for all of the survey operations.

Summary of Findings

NFHS-I (1992-93)

NFHS is a nationally representative survey of ever-married women age 13-49. The NFHS covered the population of 24 States and the National Capital Territory of Delhi to provide demographic and health data for interstate comparisons. The main objectives of the survey was to collect reliable and up-to-date national-level and state-level data on fertility, nuptiality, fertility preferences, knowledge and practice of family planning, the potential demand for contraception, the level of unwanted fertility, utilization of ante natal services, breast feeding and food supplementation practices, child nutrition and health, vaccinations and infant and child mortality.

In the NFHS, a total of 88,562 households were covered, and the interviewers collected information from 89,777 ever-married women age 13-49 (23,455 in urban areas and 66,322 in rural areas). The field work was conducted in three phases between April 1992 to September 1993.

NFHS-II (1998-99)

The second NFHS conducted in 1998-99 provides information on fertility, mortality, family planning and important aspects of nutrition, health and health care. The survey collected information from a nationally representative sample of more than 90,000 ever-married women age 15-49. The NFHS-2 sample covers 99 percent of India’s population living in all 26 states. This report is based on the survey data for 25 of the 26 states, however, since data collection in Tripura was delayed due to local problem in the state.

Most of the types of information collected in NFHS-2 were also collected in the earlier survey, making it possible to identify trends over the intervening period of six and one-half years. In addition, this survey questionnaire covered number of new or expanded topics with important policy implications, such as reproductive health, women’s autonomy, domestics violence, women nutrition, anemia and salt iodization.

The NFHS-2 survey was carried out in two phases. Ten States were surveyed in the first phase which began in March, 1999. The field staff collected information from 91,196 households in these 25 states and interviewed 89,199 eligible women in these households. In addition, the survey collected information on 32,393 children born in the three years preceding the survey. One health investigator on each survey team measured the height and weight of eligible women and children and took blood samples to assess the prevalence of anaemia.

For more information, please contact IIPS, MUMBAI E-Mail: iipsnfhs@vsnl.com

Website: www.nfhsindia.org

Reports:

24 November, 2009