National Noma Day: Group Calls For Sustained Funding, Early Detection

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned that noma, a rapidly progressing and devastating facial infection, remains a major but preventable threat to children in Nigeria, calling for sustained financing, stronger surveillance, and better community awareness to stop needless deaths and disfigurement.

At the commemoration of National Noma Day on Monday in Abuja, MSF country representative, Ahmed Aldikhari, said the organisation has witnessed firsthand how noma destroys young lives but also how timely intervention can save them.

Aldikhari highlighted MSF’s decade-long partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Sokoto State Government at the Noma Children’s Hospital, where both international and Nigerian specialists provide free, comprehensive treatment.

He said since 2014, MSF and the Nigerian government have conducted over 1,600 major reconstructive surgeries for 1,074 noma patients through 33 surgical missions.

“In 2025 alone, 99 reconstructive surgeries were performed for 89 patients,” he revealed, adding that beyond surgery, MSF also provides physiotherapy, nutrition support, mental health care, and extensive community engagement.

The MSF representative stressed that early detection remains the most powerful lifesaving tool in the fight against noma.

Through MSF’s outreach programmes, 666 early-stage noma cases were identified and referred for treatment this year.

He urged stakeholders attending the conference to use the platform to map strategies that will advance noma care at every level of the health system.

Aldikhari stressed that long-term solutions require deliberate and sustained investment from government and partners.

“To prevent noma, care for those affected, and build strong health systems, financing is essential. We must be intentional about how we prioritise this work, ” he said.

He urged stakeholders to renew their commitment to ensuring no Nigerian child is condemned to a lifetime of disfigurement or dies from a disease that can be stopped early.

The event brought together federal and state government officials, development partners, health experts, and civil society groups working to eliminate noma and strengthen oral health services across Nigeria.