DHS Data Users: Samuel Oppong, Ghana National Malaria Control Programme

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How are you involved in DHS Program surveys and analysis workshops?

My first time working on a DHS Program survey was for the 2016 Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey (GMIS). I helped with fieldwork monitoring and report writing. After the 2016 GMIS, I participated in the 2017 Regional DHS/MIS Malaria Analysis Workshop. At this workshop, I worked with my team members from the Ghana National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) to write an abstract, “Factors Influencing Malaria Prevalence in Children Under 5,” using the 2016 GMIS data.

Samuel Oppong (left) with participants from Ghana at
the 2017 DHS/MIS Malaria Analysis Workshop. © ICF

I then transitioned from being a workshop participant to a workshop co-facilitator, facilitating the 2017 Regional Malaria Indicator Trends Workshop in Uganda. This workshop brought together NMCP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) program managers from Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda to examine trends in malaria indicators.

More recently, I co-facilitated the 2018 Ghana Malaria Trends Workshop. This workshop brought together district malaria health officers to analyze trends in household survey indicators in Ghana. This was a great workshop because I was able to work with the data I am most familiar with! The output from this workshop is published on The DHS Program website.

Samuel Oppong (left) and Annē Linn co-facilitated the 2018
Ghana Malaria Indicator Trends Workshop. © ICF

How has NMCP used DHS data for programmatic decision making?

After the release of the 2016 GMIS, NMCP noticed a low uptake of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) in the Northern region, but the use of SP/Fansidar was high, which is not a recommended treatment for malaria in children. This triggered us to do additional research to figure out what was going on in this region and investigate which outlets were distributing SP. We realized that people were not receiving SP from public health facilities but from private clinical shops and other drug peddlers. The 2016 GMIS results provided a snapshot of the malaria case management situation in the Northern region and provided us justification to explore further. To solve this problem, NMCP implemented a sensitization activity to ensure people in the region know the recommended treatment and sources to get the correct treatment.

Another example of evidence-based decision making was the implementation of a malaria sensitization campaign using data the 2016 GMIS. Malaria prevalence by microscopy in the Eastern region increased between the 2014 GDHS and 2016 GMIS. This was a worrying trend because in Ghana we normally only see high malaria prevalence in the Northern and Upper West regions. NMCP looked more critically at the 2016 GMIS results and saw that while insecticide-treated net (ITN) ownership was high, the proportion of people who recognized the cause and symptoms of malaria was very low. As a result, NMCP implemented a community level sensitization activity in four districts of the Eastern region.

How do you use MIS survey data during your daily job?

I recently collaborated on a research paper using DHS data. The paper, published in The Malaria Journal, used survey data from the 2014 GDHS and the 2016 GMIS to examine ITN use behavior by exploring how several household and environmental variables related to use among Ghanaians with access to an ITN. This further analysis paper has been extremely helpful for programmatic decision making here at NMCP.

What data are you looking forward to in the upcoming 2019 GMIS?

I am interested in further examining the information about the type of nets in households. NMCP finished a mass long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) distribution campaign in 2018 and implemented a school-based piperonyl butoxide (PBO) net distribution campaign in 2019. The 2019 GMIS results will provide information on the reach and use of these nets across Ghana as well as where people obtained their nets.

Written by: Samuel Oppong

Samuel Oppong is a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with the Ghana National Malaria Control Programme. He coordinators M&E activities in vector control interventions, routine data quality audits, and SMC. He is involved in capacity building of national, regional, district and health facility staff on capturing, reporting, and analyzing malaria-related data from routine health information systems as well as other malaria data sources. He also leads capacity building programs of national, regional, and district staff on conducting data quality audits as well as onsite training, supportive supervision (OTSS) on malaria data management.

DHS Program Analysis Highlights: Summer 2019

Many students and faculty are out of school at this time of year, but The DHS Program’s analysis team is busy at work. In addition to finalizing their annual analytical papers, the team continues to support country-specific further analysis, train Fellows, write code to share with other researchers, and support data quality improvements.

Here are some of the highlights of 2019 so far:

The DHS Program hosted a showcase of the major findings from a dozen further analysis papers based on the 2015-16 Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey in Yangon in early July. More than 50 population and health professionals in Myanmar participated in DHS data analysis trainings, resulting in the publication of 9 papers now available on The DHS Program website. Several more will be published in the coming months.

The DHS Program Code library is live on GitHub! Stata code for about half of the indicators listed in the Guide to DHS Statistics is already available. The remaining indicators and SPSS code will be released in 2020.

Another class of DHS Fellows has graduated! This year, 6 teams from universities in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Senegal have prepared working papers in areas covering child vaccination, nutrition, malaria, contraceptive discontinuation, men’s family planning, and HIV testing.

2019 DHS Fellows Program facilitators and participants. © ICF

A recent analysis workshop in Ghana linked research to action by integrating policy brief writing with statistical analysis of data from the 2017 Ghana Maternal Health Survey. Proposed policy recommendations address inequalities and advocate for programs that protect and promote the health of women. Policy briefs will be published soon on The DHS Program website.

Participants from the policy brief writing workshop in Ghana. © ICF

Coming Soon in 2019!

By geographically linking SPA and DHS data, two upcoming working papers explore the relationship between the antenatal care service environment and maternal health behaviors including iron-folic acid consumption and early breastfeeding. Working Papers 160 and 161 will be published in mid-August.

What are the determinants of child marriage in Asia? In Bangladesh and Nepal, marriage by age 15 is more common in clusters where women’s acceptance of wife-beating is more prevalent. Find out more in Analytical Studies 69.

Do regional disparities in fertility preferences and family planning satisfied by modern methods persist when controlling for poverty? Analytical Report 7 will explore this question for 12 DHS Program countries and 3 groups of absolute poverty measurements.

The DHS Program explores strategies to identify potential data quality issues after data collection in Methodological Report 26.

Two new chapters – Fistula and Female Genital Cutting – will be included in the DHS Guide to Statistics.

For the first time, summary briefs will be available for almost all analytical studies and comparative reports published this year. Briefs will feature figures and maps and easily digestible bullets of key findings for a variety of audiences.

Photo Caption: Participants from the showcase of the major findings from a dozen further analysis papers based on the 2015-16 Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey in Yangon in early July. ©ICF