ArticleBMJ global health2021
Access to paediatric surgery: the geography of inequality in Nigeria.
Article in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Medical specialists in LMICs: a systematic review and best-fit framework synthesis of the evidence on their roles and contribution to health systems.BMJ global health · 2026Pooled it
- Geospatial analysis in addressing surgical care inequities: A scoping review and methodological guide.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Scaling surgical care capacity in Nigeria: a narrative review of current practices and innovations in rural surgical workforce development.BMC surgery · 2025Review
- Factors influencing the availability of anesthesiologists: a scoping review.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- Surgery and the first 8000 days of life: a review.International health · 2025Review
- Amenable Mortality in Children under 5: An Indicator for Identifying Inequalities in Healthcare Delivery: A Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- A Prospective Epidemiological Survey of Paediatric Trauma in Africa: A Cross-Sectional Study.African journal of paediatric surgery : AJPS · 2024Article
- Advocating for children's surgery within country health plans: lessons from Nigeria and the global stage.Frontiers in public health · 2023Review
- The status of pediatric surgery in Malawi: a narrative mini-review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Access to quality surgical care in Nigeria: A narrative review of the challenges, and the way forward.Surgery in practice and science · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAbout 96.3 million children and adolescents aged 0-19 years reside in Nigeria, comprising 54% of the population. Without adequate access to surgery for commonly treatable diseases, many face disability and increased risk of mortality. Due to this population's unique perioperative needs, increasing access to paediatric surgical care requires a situational evaluation of the distribution of paediatric surgeons and anaesthesiologists. This study's aim is to identify the percentage of Nigerian youth who reside within 2 hours of paediatric surgical care at the state and national level.
methodsThe Association of Paediatric Surgeons of Nigeria and the Nigeria Society of Anaesthetists provided surgical and anaesthesia workforce data by state. Health facilities with paediatric surgeons were converted to point locations and integrated with ancillary geospatial layers and population estimates from 2016 and 2017. Catchment areas of 2 hours of travel time around a facility were deployed as the benchmark indicator to establish timely access.
resultsAcross Nigeria's 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, the percentage of Nigeria's 0-19 population residing within 2 hours of a health facility with a paediatric surgical and anaesthesia workforce ranges from less than 2% to 22.7%-30.5%. In 3 states, only 2.1%-4.8% of the population can access a facility within 2 hours, 12 have 4.9%-13.8%, and 8 have 13.9%-22.6%.
conclusionThere is significant variation across Nigerian states regarding access to surgical care, with 69.5%-98% of Nigeria's 0-19 population lacking access. Developing paediatric surgical services in underserved Nigerian states and investing in the training of paediatric surgical and anaesthesia workforce for those states are key components in improving the health of Nigeria's 0-19 population and reducing Nigeria's burden of surgical disease, in line with Nigeria's National Surgical, Obstetrics, Anaesthesia and Nursing Plan.
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