Abstract
Liberia's civil war lasted more than fourteen years, ending in August 2003. During the conflict, nationally reported crude death rates increased from pre-conflict levels of the 1980s. However, fighting and insecurity precluded population-based assessments, and minimal information on conflict-related mortality is available. The present study estimated mortality among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the greater Monrovia area and was based on a sample of 378 households with 2,134 individuals over a recall period from the July 2000 invasion by rebel forces to September 2004. A crude mortality rate of 22/1,000/year (95 CI: 19–25) or 0.6/10,000/day (95 CI: 0.5–0.7) was found among Monrovia IDPs and excess mortality was estimated at 6/1,000/year (95% CI: 3–9). The most deaths occurred in 2003, with the death rate peaking during a cholera outbreak. Of 242 reported deaths, 60% (95 CI: 54–66) were attributed to illness and 33% (95 CI: 27–39) to violence.
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