Experts at a three-day training in Abuja have identified retraining paediatric anaesthetists as one of the best ways to provide safer and improved anaesthesia to children during surgery.

They said retraining paediatric anaesthetists could help reduce morbidity and mortality during paediatric surgery. The experts said this while speaking during a course training organised for paediatric anaesthesiologists by the Paediatric Anaesthesia Society of Nigeria (PASoN) in partnership with Smile Train, a cleft charity organisation.

Maryrose Osazuwa, a consultant paediatric anaesthetist at the National Hospital Abuja, said the safety issue in administering anaesthesia, especially on children, could not be over-emphasised.

“We have a limited number of paediatric anaesthetists in Nigeria. However, there is a need to educate other anaesthetists who also care for children to bridge the gap caused by brain drain,” she stated. “There is a need to increase the number of skilled healthcare professionals. Asides the PATA fellowship, which trains two doctors annually, more advocacy is needed, and more training programmes for PASoN members and all health workers involved in child care will go a long way in tackling the challenge.”

Also speaking, SAFE course director, Alhassan Mohammed, a consultant anaesthetist at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, said the training aimed at teaching participants how to effectively manage anaesthesia in children undergoing surgery while ensuring their safety.

Another consultant anaesthetist, Salawu Morayo, at the National Hospital Abuja, said only continuous training could guarantee safe anaesthesia, stressing that administering anaesthesia in children “is particularly challenging due to their unique and delicate nature.”

Mr Morayo added, “Therefore, anaesthetists who handle children need to undergo continuous training and retraining to develop systematic and methodical practices that would ensure safer and better anaesthesia and reduce morbidity.”

He urged the government to employ more anaesthetists, provide training opportunities, and empower them for effective service delivery.

Speaking earlier, Victoria Awuzie, senior programme manager of Smile Train, had revealed that sponsoring the training was in line with the vision of the charity organisation, which is dedicated to quality healthcare capacity building and advocacy to increase access to safer surgeries in low- and middle-income countries.

(NAN)