On September 19, 2023, during an Interview on OK FM, Amos Tweh, Secretary General of Unity Party, claimed that between 2018 and 2022 Liberia experienced its highest maternal mortality rate as compared to the situation during the administration of the Unity Party.
The Claim
His exact words were: “Do you know that between 2018 and 2022 we have experienced the highest maternal mortality rate in the Republic of Liberia? More children are dying today as compared to 2017”. (This claim was made at about 2:11:56 of the 2:12:06 interview on OK FM).
He made the claim in response to Kanio Bai Gbala, the CDC Campaign spokesman who had said that mothers giving birth during the Unity Party regime was very dismal.
Mr. Tweh referenced the Demographic and Health Survey report of “2020-2022, 2023” by LISGIS as his source.
We contacted Mr. Tweh to provide clarity about the statement – whether he meant maternal mortality or newborn death and he replied saying that he was speaking about newborn deaths.
The Evidence
We found the 2019-2020 Demographic and Health Survey report (please click the link and download the report to review) that he referenced. Infant mortality as defined by LISGIS in this report is the “probability of a child dying between birth and the first birthday” while “Child mortality is the probability of dying between the first and the fifth birthday.”
To fact check this claim, we reviewed the graph on page 174 (Figure 8:1 Trends in early childhood mortality rates).
The graph shows that Infant mortality in 2007 was at 71 deaths per every 1,000 live births. It then dropped to 54 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013, but then increased to 63 deaths per every 1,000 live births in 2019-20.
Also, over the same period, child mortality decreased from 42 to 33 deaths per 1,000 live births, while under 5 mortality remained generally unchanged (94 and 93 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively).
As per LISGIS definition of Infant mortality (the probability of dying between birth and the first birthday), newborn deaths increased from 54 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013, to 63 deaths per every 1,000 live births in 2019-20.
Conclusion
We, therefore, conclude that the claim by Mr. Tweh that between “2018 and 2022, Liberia experienced the highest Infant mortality rate” is incorrect.
The graph on page 174 of the Demographic and Health Survey report by LISGIS shows that the highest infant mortality rate was in 2007. In 2007, Liberia experienced 71 deaths per every 1,000 live births. There is no data shown on the graph for infant mortality rate in 2022.
This report was developed with the support of Internews through the USAID Media Activity project. The funder has no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this content.