CHAMPS Nigeria – Cross River State
About Our Work
In Nigeria’s Cross River State, CHAMPS focuses on child mortality surveillance, investigating the causes of under-five deaths, stillbirths, and poor pregnancy outcomes. This effort, spearheaded by the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), spans seven local government areas within the Cross River Southern Senatorial District.
The UCTH, a central tertiary referral hospital, collaborates with primary and secondary healthcare facilities across the state to monitor child health statistics, track infant deaths, and improve access to child healthcare. With support from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), UCTH is equipped with advanced diagnostic and laboratory facilities, including microbiology and histopathology units, to enhance the accuracy of child mortality surveillance and support paediatric health interventions.
CHAMPS partners with the Cross River State Ministry of Health, the Primary Healthcare Development Agency, and local communities to transform data into action. By engaging stakeholders and community health systems, CHAMPS ensures that its findings drive policies, enhance healthcare access, and save children’s lives through sustainable child survival action.
Our Impact
CHAMPS Nigeria in Cross River State is committed to improving child health by leveraging data-driven strategies to prevent child mortality and enhance maternal and child health outcomes. Through collaboration with government agencies, healthcare providers, and, traditional and religious leaders, CHAMPS works to understand the factors influencing care-seeking behaviors during pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn period.
By engaging communities and stakeholders, CHAMPS develops and implements practical interventions to reduce under-five deaths and improve access to child healthcare. The initiative also strengthens partnerships with local health systems to ensure the sustainability of maternal and child health programs in Nigeria.
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Meet our Directors
Professor Martin Meremikwu is a tenured Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health at the College of Medical Sciences University of Calabar in Cross River State, Nigeria, where he also leads the clinical trials and evidence-based healthcare program of the Calabar Institute of Tropical Diseases Research and Prevention. He obtained an MBBCH at the University of Calabar in 1985 and a Master of Science in Mother and Child Health at the Institute of Child Health, University London, United Kingdom, in 1993. He holds a specialist fellowship from the Faculty of Pediatrics of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, United Kingdom. He has received additional training and fellowships in disease control, clinical trials, research ethics, evidence-based healthcare, research synthesis, and Project Management in Global Health. Currently, he teaches most of these topics in postgraduate programs at the University of Calabar and as short courses. He pioneered the Cross River Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Cross River HDSS), which became a member site of the INDEPTH Network in 2014. Prof. Meremikwu has served as Editor of the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group for several years and still maintains an active link with the group by providing support to systematic review authors. He is the Director of Cochrane Nigeria and the current Chair of the Nigerian National TB/HIV Technical Working Group. He sits on several boards and scientific research committees, including the EDCTP, NIMR (Nigeria Institute for Medical Research). He was awarded the Kenneth Warren Prize for excellence in developing Cochrane systematic reviews in 2009. He has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He has led and contributed to the development of many guidelines and policy documents, including evidence syntheses and guidelines for FGM, COVID-19 IPC, etc. Professor Martin is presently the Co-Chair of the CHAMPS Network Steering Committee.
Key Partners
CHAMPS Working in Nigeria to Save Lives
Discover the stories of hope and change as CHAMPS works tirelessly saving children’s lives in Cross River State, Nigeria.