Mauritanian MOH Prepares for First Mauritania DHS Survey since 2001

Written by: The DHS Program

25 Jul, 2019

After almost 20 years, The DHS Program is thrilled to be supporting the Mauritanian Ministry of Health in the implementation of a Demographic and Health Survey. On March 26, 2019, we were honored to welcome his Excellency the Minister of Health of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Pr. Kane Boubacar, along with Dr. Naceredine Ouldzeidoune of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mauritania, and Dr. Moustapha Mohamedou, Director-General of the Mauritania Institut d’Hépato-Virologie to The DHS Program office in Rockville, Maryland.

The Minister and Dr. Ouldzeidoune provided opening remarks, highlighting the great demand for DHS data in Mauritania. Sunita Kishor, the Director of The DHS Program, presented the history, objectives, and methodology of The DHS Program. Other key staff presented on the survey design and biomarker collection aspects of the upcoming 2019-20 Mauritania DHS (L’Enquête Démographique et de Santé de Mauritanie or EDSM). Madeleine Short Fabic, Public Health Advisor at USAID, also participated in the meeting.

There is a high level of interest among health stakeholders in Mauritania in this survey, as it will provide an opportunity for trend analysis as well as several new indicators. In addition to the standard DHS indicators, the survey will include maternal mortality, hepatitis B testing among those age 1-59 years, and malaria prevalence among children age 6-59 months.

The DHS Program looks forward to working with the Government of Mauritania, WHO, and other survey stakeholders to support the 2019-20 EDSM.


(photo left to right): Mamadou Diallo (Data Processing Specialist), Guillermo Rojas (Chief of Data Processing), Cameron Taylor (Malaria Advisor), Dr. Moustapha Mohamedou (Director-General of the Mauritania Institut d’Hépato-Virologie), Hamdy Moussa (Survey Manager), Gisele Dunia (Capacity Strengthening Advisor), Dean Garrett (Senior Laboratory and Biomarker Advisor), Dr. Naceredine Ouldzeidoune (WHO Mauritania), Julia Fleuret (Survey Manager for Mauritania), Sunita Kishor (DHS Program Director), Leo Ryan (Senior Vice President, ICF), Pr. Kane Boubacar (Minister of Health of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania), Jose Miguel Guzman (Regional Coordinator), Madeleine Short Fabic (Public Health Advisor, USAID), and Peter Aka (Lead Epidemiologist). ©ICF

Author

  • The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has collected, analyzed, and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition through more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries. The DHS Program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Contributions from other donors, as well as funds from participating countries, also support surveys. The project is implemented by ICF.

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