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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) otherwise known as Doctors Without Borders has warned that Nigerian children could continue to die or suffer permanent facial disfigurement from Noma, a preventable and treatable disease, due to delayed diagnosis, malnutrition and gaps in primary healthcare.
The medical humanitarian organisation, in a statement yesterday, called for urgent and coordinated action to prevent, detect and treat the disease, which primarily affects children under seven living in extreme poverty and isolated communities.
According to MSF, Noma is a non-contagious disease that rapidly destroys facial tissues and bones. Children affected by the disease are often already vulnerable due to malnutrition, inadequate vaccination coverage, poor oral health and limited access to healthcare.
MSF Medical Team Leader for Sokoto, Florencia Maghanga, said early detection could prevent the disease from progressing and save lives. “Noma is preventable and can be treated if detected early,” Maghanga said, warning that untreated Noma could result in death for between 70 and 90 percent of those infected.
The disease was recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a neglected tropical disease in 2023. Yet, MSF said Noma remains largely absent from routine healthcare and child health programmes in Nigeria.
When detected at an early stage, Noma can be treated with antibiotics, proper wound care, nutritional support and management of underlying conditions. But once the disease progresses, patients may require prolonged clinical stabilisation followed by complex and expensive reconstructive surgery to restore facial form and function.
MSF said it has supported the Nigerian Ministry of Health’s Noma Children Hospital in Sokoto since 2014, adding that the facility is one of the few specialised centres for Noma treatment worldwide.
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Between 2014 and 2025, MSF teams said it carried out 1,645 reconstructive surgeries involving 1,078 patients. In 2025 alone, 1,034 patients received medical treatment and other forms of support, including reconstructive surgery, nutritional care, physiotherapy and psychosocial support.
The organisation said its first surgical intervention of 2026, conducted between April 17 and May 1, resulted in 55 life-changing reconstructive surgeries for Noma patients. But despite the interventions, MSF said many survivors arrive at specialised centres after years of living with severe facial disfigurement, often struggling to eat, speak or breathe.
The consequences, it added, go beyond physical disability, with survivors frequently facing psychological distress, stigma, social exclusion and barriers to education and livelihoods.
Maghanga described Noma as an indicator of broader weaknesses in primary healthcare, saying its occurrence is closely associated with malnutrition, low immunisation coverage, recurrent infections, inadequate oral hygiene and restricted access to health services.
She expressed concern that awareness and knowledge of Noma remain critically low among healthcare workers, resulting in missed opportunities for early diagnosis and life-saving treatment.
MSF, therefore, called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to integrate Noma prevention, early detection, treatment and surveillance into primary healthcare and national child health programmes.
It urged authorities to strengthen the capacity of frontline health workers to recognise early symptoms, incorporate Noma into routine disease surveillance systems and establish effective referral pathways for suspected cases.
The organisation also called for improved access to essential medicines and nutritional support, as well as stronger community awareness and prevention campaigns. “Health workers and communities need better awareness of the disease so children can receive treatment before complications become severe. No child should suffer or die from a disease that can be prevented and treated,” Maghanga said.
