Before 2019, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Enugu, one of Nigeria’s oldest tertiary hospitals, lacked a dedicated Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Critically ill children had minimal access to life-saving support such as mechanical ventilation or structured critical care services. Recognizing this gap, Dr. Odiraa Nwankwor, through the Health Place for Children Initiative and in partnership with Cooper University Health Care, launched the Nigeria Pediatric ICU Project to establish the hospital’s first-ever PICU.
In November 2019, a multidisciplinary team—comprising pediatric intensivists, surgeons, nurses, and therapists—traveled to UNTH to set up a five-bed PICU. They provided intensive hands-on training for doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and biomedical staff. Over $250,000 worth of essential ICU equipment was donated and shipped from U.S. partners including Cooper, Nemours/A.I. duPont, and PromptCare.
The project didn’t stop there. Plans were set in motion to train Nigerian specialists in South Africa and Kenya, and expand the model to other regions. With UNTH serving as a successful proof-of-concept, the goal is to replicate this life-saving intervention in at least six teaching hospitals across Nigeria by 2025.
