The Nahuche health and demographic surveillance system in Northern Nigeria: Implications of some initial results on fertility and child mortality outcomes

Reported maternal and child health outcomes in Nigeria are generaly unacceptably poor and characterized by wide disparities between the north and the south. The Nahuche Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) was established in 2009 to monitor health and demographic dynamics in Nahuche emirate of Bungudu Local Government Area in Zamfara State. The HDSS provides a platform to evaluate the impact of selected interventions on morbidity and mortality. With a population of 137,833 located in 20,914 households, the HDSS routinely monitors pregnancies, births, deaths, migration, marriages, and vaccination coverage. Data are updated every six months by trained fieldworkers. The HDSS is also conducting verbal autopsies for household deaths. We report initial results on fertility and mortality outcomes from the study area and discuss the potential of the HDSS in generating data that can be used to track progress in improving maternal and child survival towards the Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015.