Anaesthesia ’ll Help Reduce Mortality In Nigeria

In order to reduce mortality, the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists in conjunction with the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland has trained over 48 specialist health workers from Rivers, Abia, Imo, Bayelsa, as well as Lagos and Kaduna States.
The training Coordinator, Dr. Rosemary Ogu, a consultant Obstetrician and  Gynaecologist at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital who disclosed this at a training recently in Port Harcourt, said that the programme was tailored towards improving the care of children and newborn babies.
Dr Ogu said that was the first time the course was taking place in Nigeria, stating that SAFE is an acronym for Safer Anaesthesia From Education.
She further disclosed that the Paediatric Anaesthesia Course in Nigeria, was aimed at reducing paediatric mortality.
According to her,  ’’ the training is supported by the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and the University of Port Harcourt and is aimed towards ensuring better skills for service delivery.
Dr. Rosemary Ogu, who is also the facilitator of the initiative noted that the trained health workers consist of Anaesthesiologists, Surgeons and Pediatricians from different hospitals across the country, Nigeria.
“We have 48 participants from Abia, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Rivers, Lagos and Imo States. These participants come from different hospitals. They are being trained for enhanced skills in Paediatric Anaesthesia. The course is an intensive 3-day hands-on-training course which began on June 25th and ended 27th, 2019,  at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State”, she said.
According to her, “ the course started with a Training of Trainers (ToT) who facilitated the course.. there were 18 facilitators”.
On her part, Professor Christie Mato, a consultant Anaesthetist and SAFE Course Coordinator disclosed that it has been documented that majority of under 5 mortality is in Sub-Saharan Africa