The second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), conducted in 1998-99, is another important step to strengthen the database further for implementation of the Reproductive and Child Health approach adopted by India after the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo.

The second National Family Health Survey is the outcome of collaborative efforts of many organizations. The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) was designated as the nodal agency for this project by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, New Delhi. The project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with additional support from UNICEF. Technical guidance was provided by Macro International and the East-West Center, USA. Responsibility for data collection was entrusted to 13 reputed organizations in India, including some Population Research Centres. As in the earlier survey, the principal objective of NFHS-2 is to provide state and national estimates of fertility, the practice of family planning, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health and the utilization of health services provided to mothers and children. In addition, the survey includes information on the quality of health and family welfare services and provides indicators of the status of women, women's reproductive health, and domestic violence.

Another feature of NFHS-2 is measurement of the nutritional status of women. Height and weight measurements, which were available only for young children in the earlier survey, were extended to cover all eligible women in NFHS-2. In addition, ever-married women and their children below age three had their blood tested for the level of haemoglobin, using the HemoCue instrument. Through these blood tests, for the first time the survey provides information on the prevalence of anaemia throughout India. In two metropolitan cities, Delhi and Mumbai, a further test was done for children below age three to measure the lead content in their blood. The survey also measured the extent to which households in India use cooking salt that has been fortified with iodine.

The survey covers a representative sample of about 91,000 ever-married women age 15-49 from 26 states in India who were covered in two phases, the first starting in November 1998 and the second in March 1999. The survey provides state-level estimates of demographic and health parameters as well as data on various socioeconomic and programmatic dimensions, which are critical for bringing about the desired change in demographic and health parameters. One important feature of NFHS-2 is the data on the nutritional status of women and children collected by carrying out blood tests for haemoglobin levels in addition to the measurement of their height and weight.