In Summary:
-
Facebook users have claimed that the Duport Road Community in Paynesville has the highest number of HIV-positive cases in Montserrado County, citing the National AIDS Commission’s (NAC) recent announcement.
-
However, a review of NAC’s official statement shows that the Commission did not provide any community-level breakdown of HIV cases.
-
The Commission only reported national figures, estimating 36,000 people living with HIV in Liberia, with 31,000 knowing their status and 30,798 on treatment.
-
Therefore, the claim that Duport Road tops the list of HIV-infected communities is misleading, as NAC did not release data identifying any specific community with the highest infection rate.
Following the announcement by the National AIDS Commission (NAC) that approximately 36,000 people in Liberia are living with HIV, Facebook users have been claiming that the Duport Road Community in Paynesville is topping the list of communities where the most people are testing positive in Montserrado.
These posts, as seen here, here, and here, claimed that there are 4,456 infected persons in the Duport Road community.
Those spreading the information attribute their claim to the NAC’s recent announcement as the source of their information.
The Claim
An excerpt of one of the posts reads: “Duport Road Tops HIV/AIDS Communities, As Montserrado Accounts for 40% of Cases in Liberia.”
Rating Justification
We have verified this claim by reviewing the NAC’s Press Statement. A review of the Commission’s statement, released by Chairperson, Dr. Cecelia J. Nuta, on November 20, found that the statement did not explicitly provide a community-by-community breakdown.
The data provided by the commission estimates that 36,000 people are living with HIV in Liberia, with females accounting for 21,000. Out of the 36,000 persons estimated to be living with HIV in Liberia, the commission notes that 31,000 have been tested and know their HIV status, and 30,798 are on treatment, with 95% of those on treatment being virally suppressed.
Below is a screenshot of an excerpt of the Commission’s statement.
Additionally, Dr. Jonathan Flomo, Program Manager at the National AIDS Control Program, stated on ELBC on November 25 that he was shocked by claims circulating on social media alleging that the Duport Road Community has the highest HIV infection in Montserrado County.
Dr. Flomo clarified that the data being circulated online is fabricated and does not reflect the official statistics of the NAC. According to him, the NAC has not disaggregated its data by communities as mispresented on social media.
Conclusion
Based on this evidence, we conclude that the viral social media claim that Duport Road tops the list of HIV infected communities is misleading.
The recent data released by the National AIDS Commission did not provide a community-by-community breakdown of where infection is high.
