House approves $139m funding for health statistics surveys

NCHS – which is part of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – carries out a number of studies annually to assess the health and wellness of the nation.

These include the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which the market research industry has come to rely on as providing the most accurate source of data on the numbers of households ditching landline telephones in favour of cellphones.

At the most recent count, NHIS estimated that one in five US homes were now cell-only.

NCHS survey funding was approved as part of the 2010 Labour-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill. The $139m budget is up $1m on the prior year.

The bill also contains $13m in funding for the CDC’s National Immunisation Survey, which provides estimates of vaccination coverage rates for all childhood vaccinations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices.