The Kenya Demographic Health Surveys (KDHS) kicks off today (Thursday) after a seven-year break.
For the first time, KDHS will collect data on early childhood development, mental health, the Director-General for Health, Patrick Amoth has said.
He said a diverse range of non-communicable diseases will also be documented in the 6-month long survey which will cost Sh997 million.
He revealed that the indicators will be disaggregated to the county level to enable the devolved Health Departments to formulate health policies and strategies that are aligned to their specific priorities.
Speaking in Nakuru when he officially closed the 2022 KDHS main survey training workshop, Amoth said health, child health and immunization, nutrition, HIV/AIDS and TB and gender-based violence among others would be included in various topics.
"The information collected in the 7th edition of KDHS will provide critical data points to determine the level of progress made in achieving set programmatic target in the health sector such as infant mortality rate, childhood vaccination coverage, delivery by skilled attendants, contraceptive prevalence rate and nutrition status just to name a few," he said.
Amoth who was accompanied by Director General Kenya National Bureau of Statistic, Macdonald Obutho and his National Council for Population Development counterpart, Mohamed Sheikh added that the survey shall obtain information on COVID-19 vaccination coverage and universal health coverage.
"KDHS is an important source of data and is a key source of population-based health indicators which are critical in decision making and determine the direction Kenya takes in implementing health programmes," he noted.
Amoth said the successful completion of training of survey personnel who underwent a 28-day program was a key milestone in the planning cycle for the 2022 KDHS.
"We have tested data collection tools, well-trained survey personnel and an entire behind-the-scenes team that is competent to handle all aspects of survey, monitoring and logistic management," he added.
Amoth the survey was set for 2019 but had to be postponed because the National Population census was being conducted in the same year.
"The survey was pushed further forward because of COVID-19 pandemic thus taking a seven-year break instead of five," he said.
