Presenting the results of the 2007/08 Botswana Family Health Survey - IV (BFHS IV) results at the Pavillion at Fairground Holdings in Gaborone yesterday, chief Statistician, Kwenagape Mogotsinyana said the survey was conducted to provide information on family planning awareness, approval and use, as well as basic indicators of maternal and child health.
In addition, BFHS complements data collected in the Botswana Demographic Survey by obtaining information needed to explore trends in fertility and mortality and to examine factors that influence these basic demographic indicators.
Mogotsinyana explained that 26 percent of Batswana children are too short for their age and 7.2 percent are wasted or thin for their height. The survey has revealed that a lower proportion of children, who are aged less than 12 months are underweight, compared to children who are aged 12 months and above. Approximately 23 percent of children aged less than four months are exclusively breastfed, a level considerably lower than recommended. He said at age six to nine months, 45.5 percent of children are receiving breast milk and solid or semi solid foods. By age 20 to 23 months, only 5.9 percent are continuing to breastfeed. Mogotsinyana said 40 percent of infants were put to the breast within one hour of birth and 65.6 percent started breastfeeding within one day of birth.
Approximately 13 percent of the infants are estimated to weigh less than 2,500 grams at birth. Botswana's infant mortality rate was 57 per 1,000 for children, childhood mortality was 20 per 1,000, while children under the age of five were dying at the rate of 76 per 1,000. The survey revealed that 90 percent of children had all the vaccinations in the first 12 months of life.
Regarding contraceptives, Mogotsinyana said their current use was reported by 51.2 percent of all women aged 15 to 49 years. The most popular method was the condom, which was reportedly used by 41.7 percent of women, followed by the pill, which accounts for 6.1 percent of women aged 15 to 49.
Meanwhile, fertility estimates showed a decline: From 6.5 children per woman in 1984 to 5.0 children per woman in 1988 to 4.3 in 1996 and 2.9 children in 2007. Mogotsinyana said this showed a close to four children drop per woman. The survey revealed further that knowledge of family planning was nearly universal, with 98.3 percent of all women aged 15 to 49 and 96.8 percent of all men in the same age bracket knowing at least one method of planning.
Among all the women, the most widely known method of family planning is the male condom at 96.6 percent, followed by the pill at 87.8 percent. Mogotsinyana said similarly the most widely known method among men was the condom at 95.4 percent, followed by an injection at 73.3 percent.
"Modern contraceptive use stands at 52.8 percent for females and 47 percent for men," he said.
