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Claim: The Presidential Spokesperson, Alpha Khan, claimed in a viral video that the infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone has dropped to 60% since 2018 under President Bio’s administration.
Verdict: False! Although the infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone has decreased since 2018, it is unlikely to reach 60% by 2025. However, reliable data by the CIA, Statista, Macrotrends, and World Bank indicate that in 2023, the rate dropped to 56% but still rose above 60% in 2024.
Full Text
According to the World Health Organisation, Infant Mortality is “the probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of one, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of that period.”
For decades, Sierra Leone has been among the countries with the highest infant mortality rate, according to the World Bank.
The country has been battling a hike in the infant mortality rate, recording at least 56 per 1,000 births in 2020.
Although the government and international organisations are making ongoing efforts to address infant mortality, little progress has been made.
In recent years, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation developed the “Sierra Leone Action Plan” from 2023 to 2025, which aims to address infant mortality.
Infant mortality is deeply concerning, rooted in various factors including malnutrition, poor childbirth and childcare practices, and some diseases like measles, tetanus, diarrhoea, fever, etc.
However, President Julius Maada Bio’s presidential spokesperson, Alpha Khan, said in a viral video shared on WhatsApp groups that the infant mortality rate has dropped to 60% since they took power in 2018.
DUBAWA traced the full video on Liberty Online TV where he was speaking on the topic: “Between the APC and SLPP, which is preferred to be in Governance?”
During the heated debate, Alpha Khan rounded off his submission by stating that Sierra Leone has made significant progress towards reducing infant mortality.
He said, “Now, in fact, the infant mortality rate has dropped to 60% since we came to power.”
A short portion of the video is shared on WhatsApp groups, drawing the public’s attention to the claim’s credibility.
DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claim due to its potential to mislead the public.
Verification
Firstly, DUBAWA reviewed the full Liberty Online TV to verify the authenticity of the short video shared online. Our investigation proved that it was obtained from Liberty Online TV, where he made the statement.
The researcher reviewed reliable sources to verify the claim, but found no evidence supporting it.
Thirdly, the researcher reviewed the global infant mortality rate by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and we found that as of 2024, Sierra Leone’s infant mortality rate stands at 71.2%, occupying the 5th position in the global chart.
The table above is the CIA global infant mortality ranking.
DUBAWA also reviewed Statista and Macrotrends to verify the claim further.
According to Statista, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births soared to 56.2% in Sierra Leone in 2023, dropping 109.1% from 1960.
Further evidence by Statista also showed that Sierra Leone ranked fifth in the global infant mortality ranking as of 2024, with 72.1%.
The graph is obtained from Statista.
DUBAWA’s review on Macrotrends showed that the infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone only dropped by 2.46% from 2024 to 2025, invalidating Alpha Khan’s claim.
Further research on Knoema also showed that from 2018 to 2023, Sierra Leone still grapples with an infant mortality rate. Since 2013, there has only been a 4.08% decline.
The table above is obtained from Knoema.
We reviewed the World Bank Open Data on the infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone from 2018 to 2023. There was no data available on their site for 2024 and 2025. Below are the changes made by Sierra Leone to reduce the infant mortality rate.
- 2018: 66.3%
- 2019: 64.1%
- 2020: 61.9%
- 2021: 60%
- 2022: 58%
- 2023: 56.2%
The available figures were obtained from a spreadsheet by the World Bank.
DUBAWA also contacted the claimant to provide evidence for the claim, but he did not respond.
Screenshot of the message sent to him.
Although various evidence point to a reduction in the infant mortality rate since 2018, it does not support the claim of a 60% decline.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s thorough investigation of the infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone using reliable sources revealed that the claim is misleading. Our evidence indicated that the country is still grappling with the infant mortality rate.
