THE National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2005-06 provides information on fertility, family planning, health, nutrition, health care, HIV/AIDS and women’s empowerment. This survey is the third in the series. The earlier two were conducted in 1992-93 and 1998-99. These were coordinated by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW). The preliminary findings of the National Family Health Survey 2005-06 were released in the form of fact sheets by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Based on these fact sheets, the present study focused on the current status of health in Punjab vis-a-vis the change in health parameters in the State since NFHS 1. An attempt has also been made to highlight the key health issues in the state of Punjab.
On the whole, 3169 households from 65 rural and 34 urban primary sampling units (PSUs) were selected for NFHS 3 in Punjab and interviews were conducted in 2968 households with a response rate of 98 per cent. It covered 3681 women and 1329 men in the age of 15-49 years. Unmarried women and men were covered for the first time. The survey was conducted through three types of questionnaires, that is, for Household, Women and Men.
