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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Rheumatology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1440625
This article is part of the Research Topic Promoting Patient-Centered Care for Pediatric Rheumatology Across Africa View all articles

Paediatric Rheumatology in Nigeria: History, Challenges and the Future

Provisionally accepted
Ayodele D. Faleye Ayodele D. Faleye *
  • Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Nigeria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pediatric rheumatology is a relatively new subspecialty in Nigeria. For many years, rheumatic disease had not been well-recognized or studied in Nigeria, so there has been a low suspicion index. The clinical presentation of most pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRDs) mimics nonrheumatic diseases making it a diagnostic challenge most of the time.The story has changed in Lagos since the creation of a pediatric rheumatology unit at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. There is now a high index of suspicion for these diseases in the hospital but no one knows about what is happening in the other 35 states of the country who do not have a pediatric rheumatologist.Major challenges being faced presently are poor awareness among healthcare workers and the community, high cost of investigations and medications, lack of pediatric rheumatologists in most hospitals in the country, lack of pediatric rheumatology training centers for both undergraduate and postgraduate training, and lack of research data. The healthcare community in Nigeria is looking forward to a future where pediatric rheumatology will be highly recognized and established.

    Keywords: Pediatrics, Rheumatology, Patients, Rheumatic, childhood

    Received: 29 May 2024; Accepted: 18 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Faleye. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ayodele D. Faleye, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Nigeria

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