The 1993 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) is a nationally representative survey of 4,562 women age 15-49 and 1,302 men age 15-59. The survey is designed to furnish policymakers, planners and program managers with factual, reliable and up-to-date information on fertility, family planning and the status of maternal and child health care in the country. The survey, which was carried out by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), marks Ghana's second participation in the worldwide Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program. The principal objective of the 1993 GDHS is to generate reliable and current information on fertility, mortality, contraception and maternal and child health indicators. Such data are necessary for effective policy formulation as well as program design, monitoring and evaluation. The 1993 GDHS is, in large measure, an update to the 1988 GDHS. Together, the two surveys provide comparable information for two points in time, thus allowing assessment of changes and trends in various demographic and health indicators over time. Long-term objectives of the survey include (i) strengthening the capacity of the Ghana Statistical Service to plan, conduct, process and analyze data from a complex, large-scale survey such as the Demographic and Health Survey, and (ii) contributing to the ever-expanding international database on demographic and health-related variables.
