Claim: 300 infants die out of 1,000 live births in The Gambia
Source: Nenneh Cheyassin Secka-Kebe, Vice President of the Golden Era Party (GEP)
Verdict: False
Researched by Nusrat Essah
The Vice President of the Gambia’s Golden Era Party (GEP), Nenneh Cheyassin Secka-Kebe, claimed that 300 babies die in every 1,000 births in The Gambia.
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Speaking on the premier episode of The Spike Show on YouTube on Feb.6 2026, Nenneh Cheyassin Kebe, who is also a TikToker and philanthropist, said: “Every 1,000 babies that are born in The Gambia, 300 of them die, because we have no incubators and we don’t have adequate hospitals to support mothers that are delivering their babies early.” (Watch from 16 mins: 33 secs).
A snippet of the show was shared by Nenneh Cheyassin om her TikTok page, where it has gained over 1,700 likes, 88 comments, 225 bookmarks, and 36 reposts at the time of filing this report.
This report will verify whether 300 babies out of 1,000 live births die in The Gambia.
Fact-check
FactSpace West Africa reviewed data from the Gambian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), World Bank and the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME).
The World Bank defines the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) as “the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births,” while Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) is “the number of neonates (newborn) dying before reaching 28 days of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.”
According to the most current data from The Gambia Demographic and Health Survey 2019/2020 (DHS), “In the 5-year period before the 2019-20 GDHS, the neonatal mortality rate was 29 deaths per 1,000 live births. Over the same period, the infant mortality rate was 42 deaths per 1,000 live births”
In response to the claim, the Gambian Ministry of Health released a press statement on February 3, 2026, debunking the 300 baby deaths by 1,000 births from Nenneh Cheyassin.
The ministry clarified that “the most recent and credible evidence, drawn from nationally and internationally recognised sources including the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) places The Gambia’s neonatal mortality rate at 29 deaths per 1,000 live births.”
The World Bank’s data portal shows that, as of 2023, The Gambia’s infant mortality rate stood at 33.8 deaths per 1,000 live births and the neonatal mortality rate was 23.7 per 1,000 live births.
Similarly, the UNIGME 2024 report indicated that approximately 34 infant deaths out of 1,000 live births in The Gambia. This figure corroborates the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report about infant mortality in the Gambia.
None of these figures supports the claim that 300 babies die out of every 1,000 live births defined under infant mortality or neonatal deaths. Instead, available data show that deaths among babies in The Gambia range from 23 to 42 per 1,000 live births, depending on whether neonatal or overall infant mortality rates are considered.
Verdict
Therefore, the claim that 300 infants die out of every 1,000 live births in The Gambia is False.
NB: We reached out to Nenneh Cheyassin Secka-Kebe regarding our findings but have not yet received a response. This report will be updated when we get a response from her.
