Infant and Child Mortality in Two Counties of Liberia: Results of a Survey in 1988 and Trends Since 1984

A baseline survey of childhood mortality in two counties of Liberia in 1984 found the risk of dying before age 5 to be almost one-third. Three years into the Combatting Childhood Communicable Diseases (CCCD) project, a survey using a pregnancy history questionnaire was conducted in the same clusters to determine if any change in mortality had occurred. Reinterviews were done in a subsample and pregnancies were matched from the two surveys to determine levels of missing events. After adjustment for omission, infant mortality was estimated at 180 per 1000, a 25% decline from the estimated 1984 level. Childhood mortality declined by an estimated 28%. Tabulations of death by reported cause using a verbal autopsy questionnaire showed that the risks of neonatal tetanus and fever associated deaths declined significantly. These reductions might have been a direct result of programme activities which were shown by a marked increase in tetanus toxoid immunization and access to antimalarial drugs in the study area.