MONROVIA — Health experts have raised serious questions about President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s claim that maternal deaths have declined nationwide, warning that the assertion, made in his State of the Nation Address (SONA), is unsupported by clear data and risks misleading the public.
In his address on Monday, President Boakai said maternal deaths had dropped as a result of government interventions and partner support, alongside improvements in immunization coverage and reduced medicine stockouts. However, experts say the claim lacks critical details: reduction from what baseline, over what period, and based on which data sources?
While commending progress in health infrastructure — including ongoing reconstruction of the C.H. Rennie facility, the near-completion of a neuro-psychiatric hospital in Bensonville, and the Regional Diagnostics Center in Bong County — analysts stress that infrastructure gains do not automatically translate into improved maternal survival outcomes.
Concerns intensified following recent public messaging from the Ministry of Health celebrating “zero maternal deaths” at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in December 2025. Experts argue that highlighting a single month at one urban referral hospital presents a narrow picture that fails to reflect national realities.
Liberia’s Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Epidemiological Bulletins paint a far more sobering picture. By Epi-week 50 of 2023, the country had recorded 296 maternal deaths and 751 neonatal deaths. In 2024, by Epi-week 46, maternal deaths stood at 270, with the majority occurring in health facilities and only partially reviewed. By Epi-week 31 of 2025, 152 maternal deaths and 643 neonatal deaths had already been reported nationwide.
On average, six to seven Liberian women continue to die every week from pregnancy-related causes, according to surveillance data. Experts say this trend reflects persistent systemic failures, particularly in rural and underserved counties where emergency obstetric care, referral systems, blood supply, and transport remain weak.
International estimates reinforce the concern. Recent UN and World Bank data place Liberia’s maternal mortality ratio between 628 and 854 deaths per 100,000 live births — among the highest globally and far above the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70.
While experts commend health workers for saving lives under difficult conditions, they warn against celebratory narratives that obscure the true scale of the crisis.
“Liberia does not need symbolic victories or selective messaging,” one expert noted. “It needs transparent reporting, nationwide data-driven action, and sustained investment to end preventable maternal and neonatal deaths across every county.”
They stress that the real measure of success will not be zero deaths in one hospital for one month, but meaningful, countrywide reductions that leave no woman or child behind.
