Cohort Profile: The Haramaya Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Haramaya HDSS)

A demographic and health survey is a longitudinal population-based health and vital event registration system that monitors demographic and health events in a geographically defined population. Traditional sources of health information from health facilities, such as health centres and hospitals, often serve as the basis for health services planning and allocation of resources in developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, health facilitybased data frequently provide fragmentary and biased information. In these countries, establishing a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) is an important alternative to fill this information gap 1 .