The 2006-07 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) was undertaken to address the monitoring and evaluation needs of maternal and child health and family planning programmes. The survey was designed with the broad objective to provide policymakers, primarily in the Ministries of Population Welfare and Health, with information to improve programmatic interventions based on empirical evidence. The aim is to provide reliable estimates of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) at the national level and a variety of other health and population indicators at national, urban-rural, and provincial levels. The 2006-07 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) is the fifth in a series of demographic surveys conducted by the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS) since 1990. However, the PDHS 2006-07 is the second survey conducted as part of the worldwide Demographic andHealth Surveys programme. The survey was conducted under the aegis of the Ministry of Population Welfare and implemented by the National Institute of Population Studies. Other collaborating institutions include the Federal Bureau of Statistics, the Aga Khan University, and the National Committee for Maternal and Neonatal Health. Technical support was provided by Macro International Inc. and financial support was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) provided logistical support for monitoring the fieldwork for the PDHS. The 2006-07 PDHS supplements and complements the information collected through the censuses and demographic surveys conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics. It updates the available information on population and health issues, and provides guidance in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating health and population programmes in Pakistan. Some of the findings of the PDHS may seem at variance with data compiled by other sources. This may be due to differences in methodology, reference period, wording of questions and subsequent interpretation. This fact may be kept in mind while analyzing and comparing PDHS data with other sources. The results of the survey assist in the monitoring of the progress made towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 2006-07 PDHS includes topics related to fertility levels and determinants, family planning, fertility preferences, infant, child and maternal mortality and their causes, maternal and child health, immunization and nutritional status of mothers and children, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, and malaria. The 2006-07 PDHS also includes direct estimation of maternal mortality and its causes at the national level for the first time in Pakistan. The survey provides all other estimates for national, provincial and urban-rural domains. This being the fifth survey of its kind, there is considerable trend information on reproductive health, fertility and family planning over the past one and a half decades. More specifically, PDHS had the following objectives: Collect quality data on fertility levels and preference, family planning knowledge and use, childhood—and especially neonatal—mortality levels and awareness regarding HIV/ AIDS and other indicators relevant to the Millennium Development Goals and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; Produce a reliable national estimate of the MMR for Pakistan, as well as information on the direct and indirect causes of maternal deaths using verbal autopsy instruments; Investigate factors that impact on maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality (i.e., antenatal and delivery care, treatment of pregnancy complications, and postnatal care); Improve the capacity of relevant organizations to implement surveys and analyze and disseminate survey findings.
