Address by the President, Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN)
At the Opening ceremony of the 56th Annual General Meeting & Scientific Conference of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria.
Date: 22nd January 2025
Salutation and order of protocol
The Special Guest of Honour, His Excellency, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, the Executive Governor of Gombe State ably represented by the Deputy Governor His Excellency Dr. Manasse Daniel Jatau
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Ali Pate
Chairman of the occasion: Prof Auwal Mohammed Abubakar
Chief Host: Dr. Habu Dahiru (Honourable Commissioner of Health, Gombe state)
Host: Dr Yusuf M. Abdullahi (Chief Medical Director (CMD), Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe)
Royal father of the day: HRH, Alh. (Dr) Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, CFR
Guest of Honour: Dr Naveen Thacker
Guest Speaker: Prof. Clara Ladi Ejembi
Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees of PAN
Past Presidents of PAN
PAN Executive Council members
PAN Elders
LOC Chairman: Dr Iliya Jalo
Distinguished members of PAN,
Gentlemen of the Press,
Ladies and gentlemen.
We thank God for the privilege to see a new year. It is with great honour and a deep sense of responsibility that I stand before you today to deliver my first address as President of PAN in this 56th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PANConf 2025). A historic event on its own being the first hybrid PANConf ever. I welcome you to the Jewel in the Savannah – Barka da zuwa Gombe, Sanu, Nno, E Kaabo, Emedio, Jabbama Allasaini.
The President, International Pediatric Association Dr Naveen Thacker was expected to be present here physically. Due to unforeseen health circumstances that developed two days before his departure his trip had to be cancelled. I am happy to say that he is doing well and has joined us virtually today. This is a man that is International but Nigerian at heart. I will explain. Last year when we began our PAN/IPA project with a national workshop, his arm was in a sling following a recent accident. Even though he was told he needed surgery and required assistance because of being incapacitated, that did not deter him from traveling to Nigeria for the first time. He was willing to be assisted by strangers he hadn’t met before than fail to deliver on his promise of being physically present. He deferred his surgery until his return from Nigeria. A man who is extremely passionate about child health.
The Association is grateful to the Local Organizing Committee ably led by Dr Iliya Jalo for the hard work of organizing this conference amidst Nigeria’s economic challenges. The Gombe State Government has been very magnanimous in its support, and we say a big thank you. We appreciate our sponsors Yobe State Government, CMD Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, WHO, UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, other international agencies, pharmaceutical companies, First Holdco Plc and others who contributed to the hosting of this conference.
Paediatric Association of Nigeria, founded in 1968, is a non-governmental, apolitical, not-for-profit professional association of medical doctors who are specialists in the care of children. The association also includes nurses who specialise in the nursing care of children as associate members and resident doctors training to be Paediatricians as trainee members. PANConf as we fondly call our annual conference is a forum that helps us achieve our objectives such as advocacy, advancing the practice and study of paediatrics and child health, encourage research and dissemination of knowledge in all aspects of paediatrics and child health, foster friendship and co-operation among workers in the field of paediatrics and child health and allied disciplines and collaborate with government at all levels as well as Associations, multilateral development agencies, companies and organizations in the advancement of child care and development in Nigeria, Africa and globally.
Nigeria’s nearly 110 million children and adolescents aged 0–17 years represent about half of the country’s population. The eagerly awaited National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2023/2024 showed a decline in under 5 and infant mortality rates at 110/1000 and 67/1000 live births respectively but not enough to ensure that we will achieve SDG. The neonatal mortality rate at 41/1000 live births has risen. The year 2024 remained a challenging year for Nigerian children with 1 in 2 living in poverty, 2.1million unvaccinated and 9 out of 10 under 5s experiencing violence. Four out of 10 under five children are malnourished. In the last one year we painfully saw a ballooning population of out of school children and almost 5 million children urgently needing humanitarian services. Children got abducted, child rights were violated- remember the hungry minors and the tragedy of poor crowd control. The ongoing economic crunch brought a new scenario. We saw a decline in hospital visits not because the children were no longer sick but because their caregivers could not afford high hospital costs and the ones who came could not fund the treatment. As paediatricians we appeal to both Federal and State governments to eliminate or reduce hospital costs for under 5 children.
PANConf Gombe 2025 represents not just a gathering of distinguished professionals but a celebration of our shared commitment to improving the health and well-being of children across our great nation. This year’s conference theme, “Intersectoral Collaboration in Advancing Child Health and Development,” speaks directly to one of the most pressing issues in child health today. Child health does not exist in a vacuum. It is deeply influenced by factors beyond healthcare, including education, technology, environment, nutrition, and social protection. The evidence is clear: When we collaborate across sectors, we are more likely to achieve better outcomes in areas such as immunization, maternal and child nutrition, mental health, and child protection. Today, as we gather as paediatricians, researchers, policymakers, educators, and social advocates, it is vital that we commit to breaking down barriers and building robust partnerships across all sectors that impact child development.
The Paediatric Association of Nigeria has always been at the forefront of advocating for better healthcare for children. Our voice as advocates for children is rising as we consistently spoke out on issues affecting the Nigerian child in 2024. We have continued to push for policies that protect children’s health and rights, and our aim is to see a country where children are the number one agenda. At the beginning of my leadership role in the PAN Executive Council, I presented my vision and goals for PAN to my team members. The chosen priority areas were immunization and nutrition while continuing to empower health workers with skills of newborn resuscitation.
PAN welcomes the introduction of new vaccines to our routine immunization schedule, the most recent being HPV and malaria. The Federal Government is planning to introduce Rubella vaccine later this year by switching from just Measles to MR (Measles and Rubella). This is welcome news especially for us in paediatric cardiology and neurology who see the effects of rubella on our children. PAN in the last one year in collaboration with IPA has trained more than 300 immunization champions made up of paediatricians, media personnel and nurses located in all states of Nigeria and FCT. Our immunization champions have been motivated to do community engagement and optimize little opportunities to do great things thus improving vaccine uptake through advocacy. They played a significant role in the 2nd HPV roll out where average vaccine coverage rose from 80% in the first 2023 roll out to 96% in 2024 with the lowest coverage of 78% compared to 36%. We heard from them earlier today.
PAN has been able to create a vibrant social media presence with our dynamic website and other social media handles such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and Facebook. This has powered our health education to the public on germane issues affecting children. PAN has for the last 15 years conducted neonatal resuscitation training as a pre PANConf workshop. In 2024, responding to the dismal neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria, PAN in collaboration with Nigerian Society of Nigerian Medicine (NISONM) conducted Essential Newborn Care 1 (ENC 1) training across Nigeria and this time around sharing resuscitation kit to the participants to further enhance skill acquisition. On this note we appreciate 4 Breath 4 Life for donating 100 neonatal Ambu bags to PAN to advance neonatal resuscitation efforts and improve newborn care in Nigeria, most of which have been distributed during the pre-conference trainings.
To promote the practice, research and dissemination of knowledge in paediatrics, we have consistently in collaboration with our Paediatric subspecialty Societies held very educative monthly webinars and revamped our journal Nigerian Journal of Paediatric NJP by upgrading its manuscript processing from e-mail attachments to an online processing system, the OJS platform. Kudos to our EIC Dr Tinuade Ogunlesi for a great job.
In Gombe State, PAN notes the commendable efforts of government ably led by His Excellency Gov Yahaya to advance the health of children. Some of these are
- The establishment of the Go-Health Scheme, a contributory scheme focused on providing free, quality healthcare to vulnerable groups, including children under the age of five.
- Revitalization of Primary Healthcare Facilities alongside the training of healthcare workers which earned Gombe State recognition as the most innovative state in Primary Healthcare (PHC) and the second-best state in PHC delivery in the Northeast subregion during the 2023/2024 PHC Leadership Challenge.
- Implementation of a Comprehensive Nutrition Strategy whose aim is to combat malnutrition and improve child health outcomes in the state with a funding commitment of over ₦11 billion over four years.
Congratulations to the state on these laudable initiatives. Additionally, I would like to publicly mention that every time I have interacted with NGOs and health partners operating in Nigeria and Gombe state was mentioned, they have always provided excellent feedback regarding their interactions with the state. Kudos to Governor Inuwa Yahaya and Commissioner of Health Dr Habu Dahiru for their great leadership. To confirm this, it is on record that this is the first PANConf where the whole government machinery has been moved here all the way from the LGA level. Also, this is a moment of high-level advocacy with the Governor of Gombe state His Excellency Gov Yahaya being the Chairman of the Northern Governors forum. We are confident that whatever we say here will reach all the other Governors. So, what is our prayer as an Association-
- States should prioritize child health intervention across the States with a focus on quality health care across all the health facilities, particularly PHCs, including communities
- Allocate funding and timely release and scale up child health interventions in their states
- Collaborate with PAN state chapters to support mentorship and coaching to ensure quality child health services across the health with a focus on primary health care levels towards Universal Health Care
- Recruit and equitably deploy health care workers in the state to address the human resources gap most states are currently facing
- Establish a functional State Score card to monitor the progress of child health interventions across the LGAs, health facilities, and communities.
For the LGA our prayer is that they should:
- Have a clear work plan with child health activities fully reflected
- Designate focal person for child health at LGA if they do not exist
- Use the office to ensure child health programs are well implemented in the PHCs and Communities
- Ensure quality data for planning and decision making for child health
- Support and strength health
As an association, we recognize that achieving our goals requires more than just expertise in paediatrics. It demands collaboration with professionals from many different disciplines—public health experts, educators, nutritionists, social workers, policymakers, and others. Although, we have made progress in building partnerships, in the coming year, we aim to strengthen these collaborations, both within and outside of the healthcare sector, to ensure that children receive comprehensive care and that their needs are addressed in a coordinated manner. We will continue to advocate for integrated policies that bring together health, education, social welfare, and other sectors to provide children with a healthy start in life. PAN is therefore available to our governments, health partners and all stakeholders in childcare to support all policies and interventions aimed at improving child health in the country.
As we engage in the scientific sessions and discussions throughout this conference, I urge all of you—whether you are a clinician, researcher, policymaker, or advocate—to think beyond your individual sectors. Reflect on how you can collaborate with others, how you can share knowledge, resources, and strategies, and how we can all contribute to a more unified approach to advancing child health and development rather than working in silos.
On a sad note, we lost a member of our Board of Trustees, Dr Hamidu Ahmed OON, a professor of paediatric neurology and gentleman to the core who was with us at PANConf 2024 in Lagos. May his soul rest in peace and may the legacy he left behind endure. On the cheery side, every year, PAN identifies a member for the Dr. & Mrs. Bolaji Ajenifuja Distinguished Paediatrician Award. This year, I have the pleasure and singular honour to announce that the award goes to Dr. Foluso Ebun Afolabi Lesi, a distinguished professor of Paediatrics at the University of Lagos, a former Dean, Former Provost, former PAN Secretary General and current Board Chairman, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The award will be formerly presented during the annual dinner on Friday. Please join me in congratulating him. The Lecturers for the Bolaji Ajenifuja Annual Memorial Lecture and Theodore Okeahialam NJP Hour Lecture are Prof. Clara Ejembi and Dr Fidelis Njokanma, a professor of Paediatrics, respectively. We appreciate them for honouring our invitation and from their antecedent, I can assure you that you have two great lectures to look forward to.
In closing, I want to express my deep gratitude to all of you for your commitment to child health. Let us move forward with the understanding that although paediatricians are the custodian of child health, child health is not only the responsibility of paediatricians, but of all sectors that touch the lives of children. Through collaboration, we can create a brighter future for every child in Nigeria. Let us make the child Number one.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Long live the Paediatric Association of Nigeria!
Long live Nigeria’s children!
Thank you.
