About The Disease

 A young girl with the scars left by Noma.

Noma (cancrum oris) is an acute and ravaging gangrenous infection affecting the face. The victims of Noma are mainly children under the age of 6, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition.

Noma begins with ulcers in the mouth. If the condition is detected in the early stage, progression can be prevented with the use of mild antibiotics and immediate nutritional rehabilitation. If left untreated, as happens in most cases, the ulcers progress to Noma at an alarming pace. The next stage is extremely painful when the cheeks or lips begin to swell and the victim's general condition deteriorates. Within a few days, the swelling increases and a blackish furrow appears and the gangrenous process sets in and, after the scab falls away and a gaping hole is left in the face. It is estimated that the mortality rate reaches up to an alarming 90%.

Surviving Noma

 The severe disfigurement caused by Noma

Survivors, those whose pitiful faces can be seen on these pages, can arguably be described as the fortunate ones. However, their lives will never be the same and they will suffer three main afflictions - hideous facial disfigurement, functional impairment and social outcast.

The scar tissue restricts jaw movement and a child who survives is unlikely ever to be able to speak or eat normally again. In infancy, some children lose their lips and soon die of starvation, as they are unable to breast-feed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 140,000 new cases of Noma occur each year and of these, a mere 10% survive. That means that 126,000 die each year, mainly in sub-Saharan countries from Senegal to Ethiopia, a region known as "the Noma belt".

Links Used In This Page:

• The World Health Organisation

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