FG Unveils N70bn Oral Health Strategic Plan

The federal government has unveiled a five-year National Oral Health Strategic Plan estimated to cost N70 billion, as it moves to address poor access to dental services and preventable oral diseases across the country.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, disclosed this during the commemoration of the 2026 National Noma Day and National Oral Health Day, alongside the launch of the National Oral Health Strategic Plan 2026–2030, in Abuja.

Salako said the plan was designed to improve access to affordable oral healthcare, strengthen preventive services and integrate oral health into Nigeria’s primary healthcare system.

He expressed concern that more than 80 per cent of Nigerians had never visited a dentist, while two out of every three children were living with untreated dental caries.

The minister also disclosed that Nigeria currently has a dentist-to-population ratio of approximately 1:38,000, compared with the World Health Organisation’s recommended ratio of 1:7,500.

He attributed the poor state of oral healthcare to inadequate access to services, limited availability of dental professionals and the high cost of treatment, noting that most Nigerians pay out-of-pocket for dental care and only seek medical attention when pain or serious complications develop.

According to him, the government is working to reverse the trend through the integration of oral healthcare into primary healthcare facilities under the Sector-Wide Approach and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.

He said the Federal Executive Council had also approved the National Centre for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 and transmitted it to the National Assembly for consideration.

The minister explained that the new strategic plan prioritises preventive care, including access to fluoride toothpaste, school oral health programmes, sugar-reduction initiatives and the integration of oral health into nutrition, maternal and child health, and non-communicable disease programmes.

He added that it would strengthen the training and equitable distribution of oral health personnel, improve primary healthcare infrastructure and equipment, establish stronger referral systems and expand access to dental services across the 774 local government areas.

Speaking on Noma, Salako described the disease as a preventable but devastating infection that destroys tissues of the mouth and face, particularly among malnourished and immunocompromised children.

He said Nigeria carries one of the highest burdens of Noma globally, with the disease more prevalent in the North-West and North-East.

According to him, Noma can progress from a simple gum infection to severe facial destruction, disability and death within days if left untreated.

He noted that the federal government had integrated Noma surveillance into the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system to improve early identification and referral of affected children.

Salako said the ministry had also trained frontline healthcare workers, traditional healers and traditional birth attendants in 19 states on the early identification of Noma and other oral diseases.

He explained that although the disease was more prevalent in the northern part of the country, the training had also led to the identification of cases in the South-East, South-South and South-West, highlighting the need for a coordinated national response.

The minister said Noma was preventable through good nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, routine immunisation, proper oral hygiene and prompt treatment of childhood illnesses such as measles and malaria.

He added that the government’s goal was to ensure that primary healthcare facilities could identify suspected cases at the earliest stages, when treatment was most effective.

Also speaking, the Country Representative of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Nigeria, Dr Ahmed Aldikhari, called for stronger community-based surveillance and early detection to prevent severe complications and deaths from Noma.

Aldikhari commended the Federal Government and other stakeholders for efforts to integrate Noma into primary healthcare guidelines and include the disease in the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS).

He, however, stressed that the inclusion of Noma in the surveillance system must be backed by effective implementation, adequate training, reliable data management and consistent reporting at all levels.

Highlighting MSF’s intervention in Nigeria, he said the organisation had worked with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Sokoto State Ministry of Health at the Noma Children’s Hospital since 2014 to provide comprehensive care for affected patients.

He disclosed that the partnership had facilitated more than 1,759 major reconstructive surgeries for 1,174 patients through 35 surgical missions over the past decade.

In 2026 alone, he said, 114 surgeries were performed on 96 patients, while 28 Nigerian surgeons and 14 anaesthetists had received training from international specialists to strengthen local capacity for Noma treatment.

Aldikhari said the interventions also covered inpatient treatment, oral physiotherapy, nutritional support, health promotion, community engagement and mental health and psychosocial services.

He urged government institutions and development partners to provide sustained funding for the implementation of the National Oral Health Strategic Plan, warning that early detection, effective surveillance and access to comprehensive treatment remained critical to reducing the burden of Noma.