By Ikechukwu Odu

A Professor of Paediatrics at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Prof. Uchenna Ekwochi, on Thursday, identified inability to initiate and sustain respiration (asphyxia), prematurity and infection as leading causes of newborn mortality.

Prof. Ekwochi, who is the Provost of the Enugu State University College of Medicine (ESUCOM) explained that if the process of birth is laborious, the newborn may suffer a multi-systemic stress leading to asphyxiation which may cost the life of the newborn.

He made the disclosure while discussing the topic “The Travails of the Minor of Minors in Our Resource Limited Settings: Unveiling the Neglected Roadmap to Addressing the Giants and Taming the Tide,” as the 46th inaugural lecturer of ESUT, at the capacity-filled College Auditorium in Parklane, Enugu State.

In the case of premature birth, he explained that the travails would be enormous for the newborn due to the immaturity of the organs and systems to assume physiologic functions to sustain life independent of its mother.

A renowned National Trainer in Newborn health, with 22 years of experience in paediatrics, Ekwochi equally explained that if the process of delivery and care in the child’s immediate environment is not optimal, the baby may become infected (neonatal sepsis.)

Prof Ekwochi further stressed that the three aforementioned factors stand as giants claiming the lives of the newborns globally, adding that Sub-saharan Africa, and Southern and Central Asia bear the heaviest burden of newborn deaths.

He also identified poor parental background, rural births, maternal age and no maternal education as associated causes of high newborn mortalities in the country.

While calling for the establishment of World Asphyxia Day to draw global attention and awareness o the scoruge, he recommended the re-accreditation of all maternities and facilities used for delivery, government subsidization and regulation of cost of child birth in approved delivery centres.

In his opening address, the Vice Chancellor of ESUT, Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, thanked the Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, for his continued support to the Institution, stating that ESUT boasts of state-of-the-art equipment, especially in medical disciplines courtesy of the state government’s support.

While commending the lecturer for a good outing, the Vice Chancellor used the occasion to re emphasize the importance of inaugural lectures, stating that they serve as public acknowledgement of professors’ academic achievements, as they afford the lecturers the opportunity to showcase their research, innovations, engagements and teaching endeavours as well as their future research plans.

He also thanked the Chairman of the ESUT Governing Council, Sir, Chinyeaka Ohaa, and another member of the Council, Sir Dr. Innocent Akuvue, for their support for academic excellence through N1000,000, N500, 000 largesse to every inaugural lecturer.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Secretary to Enugu State Government SSG, Prof Chidiebere Onyia feted the Inaugural Lecturer for the rich content, and excellent delivery of his lecture and the ways forward.

The SSG noted that the lecture was good enough to provoke government’s attention at State and national levels and therefore called on the lecturer to liaise with the most outstanding Vice Chancellor in Nigeria (Prof Aloysius-Michaels Okolie) to package a proposal on the need for “Asphyxia Day” to the State Government for further discussions.

While also congratulating the lecturer, the chairman of ESUT Inaugural Lectures Committee, Prof. Mellitus Ezeamaenyi, stated that frequent academic discourses such as inaugural lectures have greatly improved the visibility and webo metric rankings of the University.

The post Prof Ekwochi Identifies Three Major Killers of Newborn Babies, Calls for Establishment of World Asphyxia Day appeared first on ESUT Monitor.

By Joseph Joy and Onyekachi Agu

Safeguarding lives particularly that of infants or new-born babies could be considered a herculean task, but to Professor Uchenna Ekwochi, doing such is a hobby, a passion and a calling.

Professor Ekwocchi who is the Provost, ESUT College of Medicine, stated on Thursday that he has managed and taking care of over 7000 new-born babies since he started his profession as a medical practitioner specializing in children and their related diseases.

Professor Ekwochi who delivered the Enugu State University of Science and Technology 46^th Inaugural Lecture on Thursday, said that taking care of new-borns is not just his profession but a passion.

“My Profession is my hobby, a deep passion. In 2012, when I returned from residency and got employed at ESUT Teaching Hospital as a paediatrician, I reopened the new-born unit. The new-born unit was formerly opened, but when the consultant working there exited the system, it was shut down. When I came on board, I reopened it, and I have managed over 7,000 sick new-borns in the unit,” Prof Ekwochi who is a Professor of Paediatrics and a Consultant, stated while delivering the lecture held at the ESUT College of Medicine Auditorium, Parklane, Enugu

He however explained that carrying out such tasks could not have been a personal efforts. He noted that he has a team of consultants who coordinate the work.

“Well, I have a team; it’s not a one-man show but a teamwork. I started alone in 2012; in 2014, they employed another consultant to join me. We started with 2 but now we have more than 5 resident doctirs in the new-born unit. I have another consultant that works with me. It has grown because initially, we had a bed capacity of less than 10, but as am talking to you, there are more than 20 for each of the sections. We have the inborn and the out-born sections, and we have managed quite a lot of babies, over 7, 000 of them.

“ESUT Teaching Hospital is like a referral centre since UNTH moved from the Metropolis; all the babies that get issues around this area have no other paediatric ward than to come to Newborn Unit in ESUT Teaching Hospital.”

He also talked about inadequate manpower to handle the volume of new-born babies and called on the Enugu State Government to consider engaging more hands in that regard.

“Most times, our bed occupancy rate would be more than 95 percent. Every time you enter there, we don’t have enough manpower and human resources. So, the aftermath is that workers are overburdened. This place is filled every time with several cases coming. Some of these cases can actually be prevented. That’s what I actually made people know in this lecture. If we do what we ought to do, there are so many cases coming in that wouldn’t have come because we have given them preventive measures.

“Some of them are coming as complications and not as signs and symptoms of the illness. Example: yellowness of the skin and the eye, which can damage the brain. Most mothers in our environment, instead of coming to tell you that ‘I have a baby that is having yellowness of the eyes,’ but they will not come until the baby has refused to suck—that means the disease has entered the brain and damaged the brain. That’s when the mother would recognize. ‘My baby is no more sucking; the leg and hand are stiff.’ It’s already complicated. The reason why it’s like that is because they didn’t even know when the baby became sick.

“I also called on the government to engage more hands in the Teaching Hospital,” concluded.

The post “I have Managed Over 7,000 Sick New-born Babies in ESUT Teaching Hospital” – Prof Ekwochi appeared first on ESUT Monitor.