Nigeria launches a five-year oral health plan with a push to stop noma
"No child should die or suffer permanent disfigurement from noma when the disease can be prevented and treated," the health minister of state said.
Abuja — Nigeria's Federal Government has launched the National Oral Health Strategic Plan 2026-2030 to improve dental care and to strengthen the prevention and treatment of noma, a preventable disease that mostly affects malnourished children.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, announced the plan in Abuja on Monday, during National Oral Health Week and National Noma Day. The event included a scientific conference organised by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and partners, on bringing noma care into primary healthcare.
What noma is
Salako described noma as a rapidly progressing but preventable disease that can cause severe facial disfigurement, disability and death, particularly among malnourished and immunocompromised children. Nigeria carries a significant burden, especially in the North-West and North-East, and survivors often face stigma and exclusion.
What is changing
The plan builds oral healthcare into primary healthcare. Noma has been added to Nigeria's Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System so that suspected cases are identified, reported and referred earlier, and frontline health workers, traditional healers and traditional birth attendants are being trained to recognise early signs.
Good nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, oral hygiene and prompt treatment of childhood illnesses such as measles and malaria help prevent the disease, the minister said. "Our ethos is that no child should die or suffer permanent disfigurement from noma when the disease can be prevented and treated," he said, calling on states, partners and dental professionals to support the plan.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria, November 2026.
