National Association of Nigeria Paediatric Nurses (NANPAN) has said that child mortality rate in Kwara State could increase because there is a shortage of paediatric nurses in the state.

National president of the NANPAN, Olubunmi Lawal, who spoke at the first national conference of the association and 2014 World Prematurity Day held in Ilorin with the theme, "Curbing New Born Death in Nigeria: A Mandate for All," said that 35 of every 1,000 new born babies in the state die.

Lawal said there is less than 10 paediatric nurses engaged in the state, which he said should not be the situation, as there is a school of nursing in the state that produces paediatric nurses.

She said there should be 30 pediatric nurses in a unit of a standard hospital and charged the state government to improve on the recruitment of the nurses in the state hospitals.

She called for a collaboration of the state government and the association for facilities standardisation to train paediatric nurses for the state hospitals.

"I call on the host state and our children-loving wife of the state governor to partner with the association to standardise the school of paediatric nursing in Kwara State and address the grossly inadequate paediatric nursing human resource in the state health institutions which is currently less than 10," she said.