By Dr Nafisat Makinde
Nigeria’s government, Médecins Sans Frontières and Noma Aid Nigeria Initiative pledged Tuesday to eliminate noma and integrate oral health into every primary clinic.
Minister of state for health Iziaq Adekunle Salako announced the nationwide plan during National Oral Health Week and Noma Awareness Day in Abuja, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said in a statement disclosed by Alaba Balogun, deputy director and head of information and public relations. This year’s theme is “Ending Noma through Strengthening Intersectoral and Global Cooperation.”
Primary health centers will now provide oral hygiene education, fluoride treatment, fillings and early noma referrals, backed by expanded funding from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
Two federal hospitals in Abuja and Sokoto already offer free noma treatment and reconstructive surgery. Community workers and traditional birth attendants are being trained for early detection.
Médecins Sans Frontières has carried out 1,600 reconstructive surgeries in Sokoto since 2014, including 99 this year. The Noma Aid Nigeria Initiative reports over 200 survivors treated at the Abuja Noma Centre.
Noma, classified by WHO as a neglected tropical disease in 2023, kills up to 90 percent of untreated children and hits Nigeria’s North-West hardest.
Salako called noma “a societal inadequacy” and urged action on poverty, malnutrition and sanitation. Partners vowed to drive cases to zero through coordinated effort.
