NIPS holds report writing workshop

A five-day report writing workshop of the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination was held on Monday.

The objective of the workshop, organised in joint collaboration with USAID and ICF International was to group together renowned researchers in the field of demography and reproductive health to analyse data for the third round of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2013.

The demographic and health survey is part of the international series of USAID funded surveys currently being undertaken by DHS MEASURE in 48 countries including Pakistan.

The workshop was inaugurated by NIPS Executive Director Abdul Basit Khan and attended by researchers from various ministries, NGOs, Anjushere Paradhan, DHS Country Manager, ICF International Pakistan and core research team of NIPS responsible for conducting the PDHS, 2012-13. The USAID representative also attended the workshop as an observer.

NIPS PDHS Project Director Tanvir Kayani highlighted the objectives of the PDHS 2012-13 and briefly explained the purpose of the workshop. NIPS Executive Director Abdul Basit Khan expressed concerns on the population growth in the country and highlighted various problems due to rapid population growth. He asked the researchers to design policies and programmes for educating the general public and especially the political and religious leaders regarding the consequences of rapid population growth in the country.

ISF Country Manager briefed the participants regarding procedure of writing the report of the PDHS 2012-13 and allocated various chapters of the survey among the researchers. The first draft of the survey was completed during the workshop by the writers. The final report is expected to be released by the end of October 2013.

The report will provide data on family planning, reproductive health, fertility, mortality, EPI, migration knowledge of TB, hepatitis, and domestic violence in different provinces.