Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
A United States-based Associate Professor of Pedaetrics and a House of Representatives aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Odiraa Nwankwor, has advocated measures to address high child mortality rate through the establishment of fully equipped special intensive care units in public hospitals across the country.
Nwankwor who is aspiring for the ticket of APGA to contest for the Orumba North and South Federal Constituency of the House of Representatives in 2027 General election also outlined an ambitious legislative agenda aimed at transforming Nigeria’s healthcare system, with a strong focus on reducing child mortality
Explaining why urgent reforms are needed in the health sector, the aspirant described Nigeria’s under-five mortality rate as alarming, saying that it currently stands at 111 per 1,000 live births.
“What that means is that one out of every eight Nigerian children will not live to see their fifth birthday,” he said.
Nwankwor who spoke during an interactive session with members of the League of Anambra Journalists (LAJA) in Abuja, said he hopes to leverage on his nearly two decades of medical practice abroad to push for healthcare reforms if elected into the National Assembly.
He stressed that poor health indices persists because Nigeria is presently focusing largely on primary healthcare without commensurate attention to secondary and tertiary care systems.
How to fix this, according to him, is through deliberate policy and legislative intervention, particularly the establishment of pediatric intensive care units (ICUs) across the six geopolitical zones.
“We have focused primarily on prevention, but we are neglecting early detection, prompt treatment, and critical care,” he added.
Nwankwor said if elected, he will use his professional background as a pediatric intensivist to drive needed reforms, especially through active participation in the House Committee on Health Institutions.
On what motivated his interest in politics, Nwankwor said that he believes in offering service to community.
Nwankwor narrated how he brought medical equipment from the US—used but functional hospital equipment to set up the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu.
“I told them I was coming to build an ICU and that I would bring everything needed,” he said.
On why the project was necessary, the physician said that lack of critical care facilities was contributing to high child mortality rates in Nigeria.
Beyond the healthcare infrastructure, Nwankwo said has facilitated specialized training for doctors in South Africa and Kenya, while nurses in the area of pediatric ICU care.
“We did this so we can use it as a proof of concept and scale it across other regions in the country,” he added.
He also said that he has been able to ship multiple 40-foot containers of medical supplies to Nigeria, reinforcing part of his long-term commitment to improving healthcare delivery.
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