Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria has commenced a one-week surgery on 150 children in Kwara that will last for one week.

The surgical intervention is being done on children with Inguinoscrotal swelling (hernia and hydrocele) at the Aisha Buhari Mother and Child Hospital, Eiyenkonrin, for children below 15 years.

Other conditions include lipoma, cleft lips, lump and bumps, undescended testis, cyst and umbilical hernia.

The theme of the intervention is entitled: “Quality improvement in surgical care of children” and the sub-theme is “Transitional care in paediatrics surgery.”

The National Vice Chairman of APSON, Prof. Lukman AbdulRaheem, who spoke on the sidelines of the launch of the intervention, said that the programme was part of activities to mark the 23rd annual conference of the association.

He said Kwara would be hosting the conference for the second time, adding that this year’s event was an addition to the one organised previously.

He said, “We are including free surgical outreach to give back to the communities, and our target is 150 children.”

Mr AbdulRaheem, who is a consultant paediatrician at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said the surgeries would last for a week.

He added that Kwara State would also host an international training, which would be facilitated by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Canada.

“The association will also train members and colleagues on how to take care of children that suffer injuries of various types,” he said.

He explained that the two-day training is titled: “Trauma resuscitation in kids.”

The vice president said participants would discuss and find solutions to current matters of concern in the profession.

He added, “We want to look at ways to improve the quality of services we are rendering to children so that everybody will exchange ideas and suggest ways to make things better.”

According to him, the association will also deliberate on how to help children tackle emerging diseases and conditions.

He added, “That is why we brought transitional care in paediatrics surgery. Some children may have ailments that require surgical care that were not discovered early enough. We want to have discussions with other surgery providers on how to see these children we have cared for during their childhood and how they can have continuity in their care as adults.”

On his part, a consultant paediatric surgeon at UITH, Prof. Nasir AbdulRasheed, said that the free surgical outreach is for children with unmet surgical needs.

He said, “The surgery is for children who have special conditions that require surgery but cannot afford it. The most common surgical condition in children that needs attention is hernia. They are usually presented as swelling in the scrotum and hydrocele, which has complications. We are also attending to children with cleft lips and lumps.”

Meanwhile, Abdullahi Abubakar and Nafisat Baqi, parents of children who benefited from the free surgeries, commended the association for the life -saving intervention.

They explained that they could not access health intervention previously because the surgery is expensive.

(NAN)