In Summary
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A Liberian blog, Shine Liberia, has claimed that Dr. Alvin Nah Doe was the first Liberian medical doctor to perform the country’s first brain tumor surgery.
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However, a 2022 PubMed-indexed study revealed that 18 neurosurgical procedures, including tumor resections, had already been carried out in Liberia in November 2018 by visiting neurosurgeons from outside the country.
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While Dr. Doe is recognized as Liberia’s first neurosurgeon and the first Liberian specialist to lead a brain tumor surgery with an all-Liberian medical team, he was not the first doctor to perform brain surgery in Liberia.
In a Facebook post on May 15, Shine Liberia (a Liberian blog) claimed that Dr. Alvin Nah Doe is the first Liberian medical doctor to perform the country’s first brain tumor surgery.The blog made the claim, naming Dr. Doe as its “Personality of the Week” urging Liberians to appreciate his service to the country.
The Claim
The blog wrote: “First Liberian medical doctor to carry out brain surgery in Liberia wins our Friday Personality. Say thank you to the first Liberian to carry out brain surgery in Liberia Dr Alvin Nah Doe. Yes, he deserves thank you from every Liberian.”
Rating Justification
To verify the claim, we conducted an online search. We found a September 20, 2022, article indexed by PubMed, a biomedical research database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that catalogs scientific and medical publications, titled “Infrastructural Limitations in Establishing Neurosurgical Specialty Services in Liberia.”
According to the report, institutions working in collaboration with the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation performed 18 neurosurgical procedures in Tappita, Nimba County, back in November 2018 using a team of visiting neurosurgeons. The article revealed that the procedures included tumor resections, VP shunting, lumbar stenosis surgeries, and other neurosurgical operations.
Meanwhile, a 2019 report by FrontPage Africa revealed that Dr. Alvin Nah Doe, a Liberian neurosurgeon, alongside a team of local doctors, nurses, and nurse anesthetists, successfully performed the first brain tumor removal surgery conducted entirely by an all-Liberian medical team at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia.
The report described the surgery as the hospital’s first-ever brain tumor surgery performed by an all-Liberian team.
Additionally, Neurokids, a nonprofit medical organization that helps expand neurosurgical care for children in underserved countries, highlighted the work of Dr. Alvin Nah Doe, describing him as Liberia’s first neurosurgeon and supporting efforts to build sustainable neurosurgical care in the country.
According to the organization, Liberia achieved a major milestone in 2019 when an all-Liberian medical team successfully performed a brain tumor removal surgery at JFK Medical Center.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, we conclude that the claim by Shine Liberia is correct but lacks important context.
While Dr. Alvin Nah Doe is recognized as Liberia’s first neurosurgeon and the first Liberian specialist to lead a brain tumor surgery with an all-Liberian medical team, he was not the first doctor to conduct brain surgery in Liberia.
Prior neurosurgical procedures had already been performed in the country, including 18 neurosurgical operations carried out in Tappita, Nimba County, in November 2018 by visiting neurosurgeons from outside Liberia.
