Remarks

Remarks by USAID/Namibia Mission Director Greg Gottlieb
Launch of the 2006/2007 Namibia Demographic Health Survey
9am Safari Court Hotel, Windhoek, Namibia
October 22nd, 2008

I am very pleased to be here today for the release of the 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. The 2006-07 NDHS is the result of more than 2 years of planning and execution and represents the combined efforts of several different organizations and a vast number of individuals.  I thank and congratulate all those who have worked so hard to make this day possible.  I particularly want to commend the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Minister Kamwi and his dedicated staff for their significant support and efforts with regard to this demographic and health survey. 

It is said, that knowledge is power:  But we can better think of knowledge as empowering.  That is why these Demographic and Health Survey results are so important.  They will improve the effectiveness of our joint efforts to combat HIV and AIDS, TB and the resulting cascade of other health and social issues facing Namibia.  The DHS provides a wealth of information on behaviors – information that is essential for us to gain the level of success in prevention that Namibia has achieved in treatment of HIV/AIDS.  With worldwide rates of infection outstripping rates for treatment, it is clear that prevention is vital to a sustainable response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  To change a behavior, we must first understand what choices people make and why:  Is it knowledge? Is it tradition? Is it economics?    

The DHS allows us to observe and measure trends overtime.  It provides strategic data for the Ministries of Health, Gender, Equality and Child Welfare, Education and others, health practitioners, NGOs, development partners -- all of us working together to facilitate Namibia’s progress -- to point to what policies and interventions may be having a positive impact or where new direction and focus may be needed.

As you will hear in more detail later, the 2006/2007 Demographic Health Survey shows some very encouraging behavioral trends that are fundamental to preventing HIV and AIDS.  More Namibians are getting tested for HIV, young people are waiting longer to start sexual activity, and the use of condoms has increased.  

This is very good news.  There are, however, sobering trends that remain; adult, infant and maternal mortality rates have increased probably related to HIV and AIDS and, as we are all painfully aware, more and more of Namibia’s children are becoming orphans or living in vulnerable, precarious economic and social situations.  While distressing, this is also critical news about where we need to focus our efforts.

We must continue to dedicate ourselves to turning the tide on this deadly virus and its unfortunate variety of effects to supporting those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS and increasingly TB.

The US government, through USAID and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEFPAR), is pleased to support the 2006-07 NDHS – the third DHS in Namibia. 

The Namibian DHS is part of the International DHS project which is global in scope. USAID has funded these surveys for more than 2 decades and in more than 70 countries. The DHS project is widely recognized as the “gold standard” for survey research in developing countries. There are a number of reasons for this:

First, the breadth and depth of the information collected is unmatched by any other survey.

Second, DHS surveys are known for their emphasis on quality in every step of the process, from the design of the questionnaire, to the training of interviewers, to the monitoring of the data collection and close scrutiny of all of the data collected.

Third, DHS questionnaires, definitions, and procedures are very similar in every country. This makes it possible to compare survey results between countries, even countries as diverse as Namibia, Cambodia, and Uzbekistan. You can make these comparisons and be confident that the different rates and estimates represent true differences in the countries’ health indicators and not merely differences in how the questions were asked or how the samples were selected.

The 2006-07 NDHS is an invaluable resource that has much to offer.  It is essentially a photograph of the entire country showing what is attractive and appealing as well as areas in need of improvement. We can look at the photograph as a whole. We can also concentrate on small pieces of it when we need to focus on a single health or social issue.

USAID is already planning to use the data set for the upcoming National Meeting on Prevention, November 5-6th.  All of USAID’s PEPFAR activities are substantially strengthened from the wealth of information this survey provides.

Now, I have the great pleasure of giving credit to the organizations that have contributed so much time, energy, and expertise to this enormous project. The Ministry of Health and Social Services has done an outstanding job over the last two years.

We also need to thank our 28 teams of interviewers who traveled throughout Namibia from Omusati to Karas, knocking on doors and spending hours talking to men and women about very personal topics and facing a variety of challenges.  Just think how hard these teams worked to visit over 9,000 households and complete 13,719 interviews. All of you have done a tremendous job. You should feel very proud of what you have accomplished.

Next we need to acknowledge the substantial financial contribution of the Government of Namibia that made this survey possible. Additionally, thanks go to the Global Fund, UNFPA, UNICEF, DFID, WHO, and the Government of China for their financial and logistical support.

We also need to acknowledge the technical assistance and support from Macro International, the U.S. company that implements the Global DHS project. We particularly need to thank Ms. Sri Poedjastoeti, who has spent so much time here coordinating the survey. Several other staff from Macro also visited Namibia including data processing experts and a statistician specializing in selecting representative samples. Thanks to their help, all of the data collection, data entry, and data editing were done here in Namibia.

On behalf of USAID, we are pleased to be part of the launch of the 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. And we look forward to seeing this wealth of data being used across the country to improve the health and well-being of all Namibians.

Thank you.