Since 1984, the Demographic and Health Surveys program (DHS) has collected, analysed and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV and nutrition through more than 200 surveys in over 75 countries.
It receives financial support from USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and was set up by ORC Macro in partnership with the statistical offices or relevant ministries of each country covered by the survey.

The site, mainly in English, is very extensive and easy to browse. Surveys can be searched by Year, Survey Type and Region/Country, and information on methodologies, on questionnaires and on the DHS key indicators are available from the home page and via the Surveys and Methodologies and Countries sections. In the Countries section, detailed data files on specific countries can be downloaded in zip format by registered users.

The Publications section includes survey reports (quick search by country) along with associated technical and working documents. Most can be downloaded in pdf format, and more than a hundred -including 50 survey reports - are in French.

In the Data section, users can apply the Statcompiler tool to build customized tables, to compare data or view them on maps using Statmapper or HIVmapper.

A wide range of Topics are covered in depth. They include fertility, health, maternal and child mortality, family planning, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, etc.
A number of special focus topics are highlighted: HIV, youth, gender, biomarkers and geographic information.