This paper provides the basic concepts needed by biostatisticians and health personnels to facilitate their understanding of survival analysis. Firstly, a brief explanation of the concept is given together with its applications and how survival data could be obtained. Secondly, the paper discusses the uniqueness of survival analysis compared with other standard methods of estimation. Again, the idea of censoring is clearly expounded with illustrations. Finally, the mathematical approaches to obtaining the Kaplan-Meier curve and the life tables are illustrated using artificial data and interpreted.