In 2014-2015, India will implement the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). Like its predecessors, NFHS-4 will be conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, coordinated by the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, and implemented by a group of survey organizations and Population Research Centres, following a rigorous selection procedure. Technical assistance for NFHS-4 will again be provided by ICF International, USA with the major financial support from the United States Agency for International Development and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

In addition to the 29 states, NFHS-4 will also include all six union territories for the first time and will also provide estimates of most indicators at the district level for all 640 districts in the country as per the 2011 census. NFHS-4 sample size is expected to be approximately 568,200 households, up from about 109,000 households in NFHS-3. This is expected to yield a total sample of 625,014 women and 93,065 men eligible for the interview. In these households information on 265,653 children below age 5 will be collected in the survey. Data will be collected using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) on mini-notebook computers.

NFHS- will provide updates and evidence of trends in key population, health and nutrition indicators, including HIV prevalence. Moreover, the survey will cover a range of health-related issues, including fertility, infant and child mortality, maternal and child health, perinatal mortality, adolescent reproductive health, high-risk sexual behaviour, safe injections, tuberculosis, and malaria, non-communicable diseases, domestic violence, HIV knowledge, and attitudes toward people living with HIV. The information will enable the GOI to provide national and international agencies to monitor and evaluate policies and programmes related to population, health, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS.