Malawi Demographic and Health Survey 2024 Final Report

Abstract

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) are population-based surveys designed to monitor progress in health service utilization and management to inform decision makers. Since 1992, DHS surveys led by the Malawi National Statistical Office have been conducted in the country in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM), and other stakeholders. Funds for the 2024 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) were provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the Government of Malawi; the World Bank; the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the World Health Organization (WHO); the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); the KfW Development Bank of Germany; Global Affairs Canada; the European Commission; and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF). Prior to the 2024 MDHS, five rounds of the MDHS—in 1992, 2000, 2004, 2010, and 2015–16—were successfully completed, making this round the sixth in the series. These surveys provide information on mortality, morbidity, nutritional status, disease prevalence, service utilisation, and health-seeking practices at the district, regional, and national levels. The MDHS is an important source of information for measuring the outcomes and impact of health programmes and for developing annual and sectoral plans. The 2024 MDHS provides national estimates of demographic and health indicators that are comparable to data collected in Malawi’s five previous DHS surveys and similar surveys in other developing countries. Data collected in the 2024 MDHS add to the large and growing international database of population-based indicators for Malawi. The 2024 MDHS collected data from a nationally representative sample of approximately 23,000 households from 28 districts and four major cities. The survey interviewed 22,414 households, 20,849 women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years), and 8,583 men age 15 to 54. In addition, children age 0–5 and women age 15–49 were measured for anthropometry, anaemia, and micronutrient , and children age 6–59 months were tested for malaria using malaria rapid diagnostic tests. The 2024 MDHS was also implemented in a special domain of the Dzaleka refugee camp, providing snapshots of the population and the health status of the refugees. This final report provides detailed analyses and results from the 2024 MDHS and presents trends in indicators using data from the previous rounds. The indicators presented include, but are not limited to, total fertility rates, teenage pregnancy, current use of contraception, unmet need for family planning, childhood mortality rates, vaccination rates, nutritional status of children, minimum dietary diversity among children, household possession of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, the prevalence of malaria among children, and knowledge of HIV prevention methods. These data are disaggregated by districts and four major cities, by type of locality, and by selected demographic characteristics including sex, age, education, and household wealth. Findings from this report will support the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programmes to improve population health in general as well as reproductive, maternal, and child health.