Why is it in the News?

The World Health Organization (WHO) on December 15, 2023, added one of the world’s most under-recognised health challenges, noma, to its official list of neglected tropical diseases (NTD).

About the Noma disease:

• Noma is a severe gangrenous disease of the mouth and face with a mortality rate of approximately 90 per cent.
• It is also known as cancrum oris or gangrenous stomatitis and is often associated with extreme poverty, malnutrition and poor access to sanitation and oral hygiene.
• The name of the disease comes from the Greek word “nom?”, meaning “to devour”, as noma eats away facial tissue and bones if not treated early.
• Noma mainly affects children aged 2-6 years old and is found most commonly among those living in poor communities.
• The illness’s ‘hidden’ or neglected nature is most likely due to the fact that it affects the world’s most marginalised children.
• Noma is associated with a number of risk factors, including poor oral hygiene, malnutrition, weakened immune systems, infections, and extreme poverty.
  • While the disease is not contagious, it prefers to attack when the body’s defences are weak.
• The NTD often starts as an ulcer on the mucous membrane lining, commonly after a bout of measles or other diseases, stated another 2003 study.
  • “It quickly develops into a massive necrosis, moving from the inside outward, often involving major portions of the face.
• Treatment: “Early treatment with antibiotics, rehydration, correction of electrolytic imbalances, and administering nutritional supplements will halt the disease.
• The patients who survive face many consequences, like significant facial disfigurement, spasms of the jaw muscles, oral incontinence and speech problems.
• The disease is also called the ‘face of poverty’, as effective drugs like sulfonamides and penicillin and adequate surgical treatment for the effects remain inaccessible for many due to extreme poverty.
• “The recognition of noma as an NTD aims to amplify global awareness, catalyse research, stimulate funding, and boost efforts to control the disease through multisectoral and multi-pronged approaches.