Malawi 2015-16

FOREWORD
T
he 2016-16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (2015-16 MDHS) was conducted between
October 2015 and February 2016 by the National Statistical Office (NSO) of Malawi in joint
collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Community Health Services Unit
(CHSU). Malawi conducted its first DHS in 1992 and again in 2000, 2004, and 2010. The 2015-16 MDHS
is the fifth in the series. The survey is based on a nationally representative sample that provides estimates
at the national and regional levels and for urban and rural areas with key indicator estimates at the district
level. The survey included 26,361 households, 24,562 female respondents, and 7,478 male respondents.
The 2015-16 MDHS includes household and respondent characteristics, fertility and family planning,
infant and child health and mortality, maternal health and maternal and adult mortality, child and adult
nutrition, malaria, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, orphans, and vulnerable children. As in the 2004 and
2010 MDHS, the 2015-16 MDHS included HIV testing that provides data on HIV prevalence in the
country. The 2015-16 MDHS was conducted jointly with the Micronutrient Survey (MNS), which was
implemented by the NSO in partnership with the Department of Nutrition, HIV, and AIDS (DNHA).
The MDHS provides data that are needed to monitor and evaluate population, health, and nutrition
programmes on a regular basis. The increasing emphasis by planners and policy makers on the utilisation
of objective indicators for policy formulation, planning, and measurement of progress has increased
reliance on regular household survey data. This was necessary because of the inadequate availability of
appropriate, reliable information from administrative statistics and other routine data-collection systems.
The MDHS is a crucial response to this paradigm shift. The 2015-16 MDHS provides an update on the
status of health, maternal and child health, and family planning issues in Malawi. Most importantly, the
2015-16 MDHS provides baseline and critical information needed for monitoring Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II (MGDS II), and other
national and international development programmes.
We would like to thank the Malawi Government, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), National AIDs Commission (NAC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Women, who funded the 2015-16 MDHS. ICF International
provided technical assistance through the DHS Program, a USAID-funded project that provides support
and technical assistance for the implementation of population and health surveys in countries across the
world. The NSO also gratefully acknowledges the World Bank and Irish Aid, who funded the
Micronutrient Survey.
We would also like to thank staff members from the NSO, MoH, CHSU, and the University of Malawi,
Chancellor College for efficiently coordinating the survey. Special mention is given to the Steering
Committee and the Technical Working Group, which were chaired by the Department of Economic
Planning and Development (DEPD). These groups were instrumental in guiding the resource mobilisation
process, implementation, and technical aspects of the survey. We are very grateful to our field staff, who
worked tirelessly and diligently to collect the data needed for this report. Finally, we extend our
appreciation to the respondents, who generously provided data, without which it would have been
impossible to produce this report.
Mercy Kanyuka
Commissioner of Statistics
Foreword • xxi