The 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) is part of the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program, which is designed to collect data on fertility, family planning and maternal and child health. The 1988 EDHS is the most recent in a series of surveys carried out in Egypt to provide the information needed to study fertility behavior and its determinants, particularly contraceptive use. The EDHS findings are important in monitoring trends in these variables and in understanding the factors which contribute to differentials in fertility and contraceptive use among various population subgroups. The EDHS also provides a wealth of health-related information for mothers and their children, which was not available in the earlier surveys. These data are especially important for understanding the factors that influence the health and survival of infants and young children. In addition to providing insights into population and health issues in Egypt, the EDHS also hopefully will lead to an improved global understanding of population and health problems as it is one of 35 internationally comparable surveys sponsored by the Demographic and Health Surveys program. The Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) has as its major objective the provision of current and reliable information on fertility, mortality, family planning, and maternal and child health indicators. The information is intended to assist policy makers and administrators in Egyptian population and health agencies to: (1) assess the effect of ongoing family planning and maternal and child health programs and (2) improve planning for future interventions in these areas. The EDHS provides data on topics for which comparable data are not available from previous nationally representative surveys, as well as information needed to monitor trends in a number of indicators derived from earlier surveys, in particular, the 1980 Egypt Fertility Survey (EFS) and the 1980 and 1984 Egypt Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys (ECPS). Finally, as part of the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program, the EDHS is intended to add to an international body of data, which can be used for cross-national research on these topics.
