The DHS Program

Calverton, MD – Across the developing world, thousands of young adults do not know how to protect themselves from HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and unwanted pregnancies, according to a new global study on youth. Only about a third of young women in Egypt, Jordan, and Indonesia, for example, know that using condoms can reduce the risk of HIV infection.

Windhoek, Namibia. More Namibians are getting tested for HIV, young people are waiting longer to start sexual activity, and use of condoms has increased, according to the new 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) just released today. At the same time, the HIV epidemic continues to ravage the population.

CALVERTON, MD. October 1, 2008-Macro today announced that it was awarded the MEASURE Phase III Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) contract for international survey research in population and health by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The five-year project will support the Monitoring and Evaluation to Assess and Use Results (MEASURE) Program by serving as the Bureau for Global Health's primary demographic and health data collection effort.

Only one percent of Congolese adults are infected with HIV, reports the first ever Democratic Republic of Congo Demographic Health Survey. National prevalence is 1.3 percent, while prevalence is almost twice as high among women as among men (1.6 and 0.9 percent, respectively). Men and women living in urban areas are twice as likely to be infected as those in rural areas.

Calverton, MD - More than 70 percent of health care facilities in Uganda offer basic health services--curative care for sick children, immunisation, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and family planning; 45 percent of facilities provide 24-hour services for childbirth. Preventive care and counseling are far less available. Lack of running water and shortages of some types of medicines compromise the quality of care offered to children and adults.