A team of paediatric specialists from Walsall visited a hospital in Nigeria to provide training and share tips and advice with other healthcare professionals.
Dr Abdulhakim Abdurrazaq and Dr Rana Zoualghina, Consultant Paediatricians, and Sue Worsey, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, made the 3,600-mile trip to support global health and tackle inequalities.
The Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust team arrived on 31 March and stayed until 6 April, sharing skills and knowledge with staff at National Hospital Abuja in Nigeria. The trip was funded by themselves.
Dr Abdurrazaq, who was born in Nigeria, left the country 17 years ago and said he felt the visit was enriching.
He said: “The visit was well received by the host team. It was aimed at supporting global health and tackling health inequalities at an international level.
“The masterclass element included a series of lectures delivered by my colleagues virtually. We also delivered some face-to-face teaching on newborn life support and delivered gifts of newborn clothing.
“Giving is always rewarding, and we plan to organise another session in the next six to 12 months.”
Sue said: “We learnt a lot from each other. For example, their breastfeeding rates are high. The cost of formula and the logistics of sterilising bottles in Nigeria lends itself to breast feeding as a safer option which can only improve the outcomes for their babies. Breastfeeding is the norm and we learnt so many helpful tips and advice from staff in regards to this which I have brought back with me to the UK.
“Their equipment and infrastructure is not as advanced as us so we could teach the staff new skills which I know will have a huge impact for their patients.
“We hope to keep this link going and set up regular zoom calls with the Nursing and medical teams in the future.”
Dr Zoualghina, who is originally from Syria, said she had been back to her home country previously to provide help and advice, but this was her first time in Nigeria.
She said: “The main difference I would say is they are using equipment and medicines we used 10 years ago.
“The staff we met were so lovely and treated us brilliantly.
“The Neonatal wards we visited were full and they had made it work with the equipment available to them. They work very long hours – about 18-hour shifts – which was very humbling.
“It was such an informative visit and I would like to thank all the staff we met.”