The National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) is designed to provide data useful for monitoring the population and health situation in the country. The NDHS is a nationwide survey conducted every 5 years by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA). It aims to provide up-to-date information on fertility, family planning, and maternal and child health. The survey also provides useful inputs to policy formulation and monitoring of activities, researches and programs on health care services during pregnancy and childbirth and after delivery are important for the survival and well-being of both the mother and the infant.

•  In the Philippines, 15.0 percent of infants weighed less than 2.5 kilograms. Infants born by mothers who smoked cigarettes or tobacco were more likely to have low weight (21%) than infants born by mothers who did not smoke (14%).
• There were large regional variations in the percentage of births with low birth weight - 9.0 percent of births in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) as compared with 20.0 percent of births in Davao and 21.0 percent of births in Zamboanga Peninsula. Cordillera had the lowest percentage among regions.

Table 1. Percentage of live births with a reported birth weight of less than 2.5 kg by mother’s smoking status and by region,
Philippines: 2017

70% of children 12-23 months old receive all basic vaccinations

• Overall, 70 percent of children 12-23 months old received all basic vaccinations. BCG vaccine was the basic childhood vaccination received by most children (90.0 percent). More than 80.0 percent of children received the first 2 doses of both DPT and Polio vaccines, but less than 80.0 percent of children had the third dose of each vaccine.
• In CAR, 77.0 percent of children 12-23 months old received all basic vaccinations. Also in the region, BCG vaccine was the basic childhood vaccination received by most children (95.0 percent). At least 90.0 percent of children received the 3 doses of DPT.
• Overall, 9.0 percent of children have not received basic vaccinations.
• In CAR, 5.0 percent of children had no vaccinations.

Figure 1. Percentage of children age 12-23 months who have received basic childhood vaccinations, Philippines and CAR: 2017

2% of children under age 5 has symptoms of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI)

• In the Philippines, mothers reported that 2.0 percent of children under age 5 had ARI in the two weeks before the survey.
• On the other hand, mothers in CAR only observed 1.0 percent of children under 5 with symptoms of ARI in the two weeks before the survey.
• Advice or treatment was sought for 67.0 percent of children with ARI symptoms. There were 22.0 percent of children under 5 with ARI symptoms in the two weeks before the survey who sought advice or treatment on the same day or on the day after their symptoms appeared.

Table 2. Percentage of children under age 5 with symptoms of ARI by treatment, Philippines and CAR: 2017

Mothers living in rural areas are more likely to dispose appropriately their child’s fecal matter than those living in urban areas

• Appropriate disposal of children’s stools was more common in rural areas than in urban areas with 23 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
• Appropriate disposal of children’s stools also varied by region, from 3.0 percent in NCR to 39.0 percent in SOCCSKSARGEN. CAR had a record of 23.0 percent which was higher than the national percentage.
• The percentage of children whose stools were disposed of appropriately generally rises with the child’s age, increasing from 7.0 percent of children 0-1 months old to 26.0 percent of children 18-23 months old.

Table 3. Percentage distribution of youngest children under age 2 living with their mothers with appropriate disposal of the child’s last fecal matter by background characteristics by region, Philippines: 2017

Technical Notes