Mali 1995-96: Results from the Demographic and Health Survey

Abstract

This article presents a statistical summary from the 1995-96 Mali Demographic and Health Survey for fertility, contraceptive usage, breast feeding, infant mortality, immunization, diarrheal disease, and malnourishment. 11.9% had received a primary education, and 7.1% had received a secondary education. Fertility was 6.7 children/woman during 1993-96; 7.3 in rural areas and 5.4 in urban areas. Fertility by educational level was 7.1 for uneducated women, 6.5 for primary educated women, and 4.1 for secondary educated women. The lowest mean ideal fertility was 5.9 for women aged 15-19 years and 5.6 for childless women. Fertility ideals increased in a linear fashion with age and number of living children. 18.7% desired a stop to childbearing. 52.1% of women with 6 or more children desired a stop to childbearing. Desire to stop childbearing increased with number of living children. 10.6% of women with 3 living children desired a stop to childbearing. Contraceptive prevalence was 16.2% among urban women in a union, and 3.3% among rural women in a union. 41.3% of women with a secondary education used contraception. Modern method use was 4.5%, and traditional method use was 2.2%. 64.6% knew of any modern method. Nonusers were predominantly women who desired more children or opposed family planning. 12.8% were single, and 84.8% were in a union. The median age at first birth was 18.8 years, which did not vary widely by education or residence. The median duration of breast feeding was 21.6 months. Infant mortality was 123/100,000 during 1992-96. Infant mortality was highest in rural areas and among uneducated women. 31.5% of children aged 12-23 months had received all vaccines. 25.3% of children aged under 3 years had diarrhea in the 2 weeks before the survey. 23.3% of children aged under 3 years were moderately 6.2% were severely malnourished.