DUSHANBE, April 9, 2013, Asia-Plus — The 2012 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey (2012 TjDHS) (preliminary report) was presented in Dushanbe on April 9.
The survey was implemented by the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan from July through September 2012. Support for the 2012 TjDHS was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the MEASURE DHS project. MEASURE DHS is a USAID-funded program through which ICF International provides funding and technical assistance in the implementation of population and health surveys in countries worldwide. Additional funding and support for the 2012 TjDHS was received from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Preliminary reports present initial findings relating to the principal topics in the survey. The early publication of results is intended to facilitate use of the information in the planning and management of population and health programs. A more detailed final report will be issued in the near future. The figures in a preliminary report are not expected to differ markedly from the findings presented in the final report; nevertheless, the results presented here should be considered provisional and subject to modification.
The report, in particular, notes that for the five years preceding the survey (approximate calendar years of 2008 through 2012), the infant mortality estimate is 34 per 1,000 live births. The estimates of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality are 19 and 15 per 1,000, respectively. The estimate of child mortality (age 1 to age 4) is much lower: 9 per 1,000. The overall under-5 mortality rate for the period is 43 per 1,000.
Mortality has reportedly substantially decreased over the last fifteen years. For example, the infant mortality rate was 56 per 1,000 during the period 10 to 14 years before the survey and 43 per 1,000 during the period 5 to 9 years before the survey compared with the estimate for the five years before the survey of 34 per 1,000.
Comparisons of the results of the 2012 Tajik DHS with those of the 2005 Tajikistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (65 per 1,000 live births for the infant mortality rate and 79 per 1,000 live births for the under-5 mortality rate) also suggest a substantial decline in childhood mortality over the years passed between the surveys.
However, childhood mortality rates in Tajikistan are relatively high when compared with the levels reported in recent DHS surveys in several neighboring countries.
