(Davao City) – Regional Statistics Committee (RSC) XI and NEDA XI Regional Director Maria Lourdes D. Lim, CESO II delivered a message of support during the recently conducted 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) on 4 July 2023, at the Seda Hotel, Davao City. The NDHS is just one of the many surveys and data capture initiatives of the PSA, which provide government and sector leaders with the opportunity to gauge the trajectory, as well as potential shortfalls, of the nation’s key development indicators, with focus on fertility, mortality, family planning practices, maternal and child health, early childhood development, and other health or demographic indicators.

RD Lim extended her great appreciation to the Philippine Statistics Authority for the successful formulation and publication of the 2022 NDHS Final Report. She emphasized the importance of the 2022 NDHS results in operationalizing various strategies under the Philippine Development Plan, 2023-2028 and its regional counterpart, the Davao Regional Development Plan, 2023-2028.

According to RD Lim, the 2022 NDHS “allows us to identify trends and persistent patterns, specifically on health-related indicators and demographic statistics. This shall allow the government to set priorities in terms of the coverage of various programs, their corresponding target sectors or segments of the population, and, the allocation of valuable resources”.

The NDHS published this year is the seventh iteration of the country’s Demographic and Health Survey, or DHS, and marks the twelfth in the series of DHS-related surveys since 1968. This shows the commitment of the nation in recognizing that the assessment of the country’s demographic and health situation is a requisite action towards sustained inclusive socioeconomic development. “In times of rapid change, growing complexity, and critical uncertainty in view of various global and local threats or challenges, the NDHS shall allow the government to cushion its effects to our vulnerable and marginalized sectors”, RD Lim said. – Laurence Gido, NEDA XI