INFANT AND CHILD-MORTALITY ESTIMATES IN 2 COUNTIES OF LIBERIA - 1984

To estimate baseline infant and child mortality in Liberia, a survey w as carried out in 1984 as part of the Combatting Childhood Communicabl e Diseases (CCCD) project. The project, a collaborative effort of the Liberian Ministry of Health, the US Agency for International Developme nt, and the US Centers for Disease Control, is aimed at reducing child hood morbidity and mortality through oral rehydration therapy, vaccina tion and treatment for malaria. As a measure of programme impact, mort ality estimates from this survey will be compared with those from a se cond survey after 4-5 years. A sample of 40 clusters (50-70 households per cluster) was used. The size is sufficient to detect a 25% reducti on in mortality of children under 5 years of age. Mortality was estima ted from a pregnancy history questionnaire asked of women aged 15-49 r esiding in cluster households. A reliability survey was conducted and pregnancies were matched to determine the level of omission of births and deaths. Results show a very high level of mortality with a risk of death in infancy above 20% and a risk of dying before the fifth birth day of one-third. Since the extent of omission of deaths in the first survey proved substantial, the reinterview survey was essential.