PROTOCOLS
- It is with great honor and a deep sense of purpose that I stand before you today on the commemoration of National Oral Health and Noma Day—a day that calls us not only to talk and reflect, but to also act. Today, we spotlight two critical yet often overlooked aspects of health: oral health and the devastating disease known as noma. These issues are not just of health concerns, they are matters of dignity, equity, and survival.
- Oral health is fundamental to overall health. In the words of the WHO, “No health without oral health”, which underscores the interconnectedness of oral and overall health. Oral health have far reaching consequencies, affecting how we eat, speak, learn, and interact. Poor oral health is not merely a cosmetic issue; it is a silent epidemic that undermines productivity, self-esteem, and quality of life. Yet, millions of Nigerians; especially children and the elderly continue to suffer from preventable oral diseases such as dental caries, periodontal disease, and oral cancers.
- Data has shown us that oral diseases are the most common non- communicable diseases (NCDs), affecting nearly 50% of world’s population. They are accompanied with high social, economic and health system impacts, affecting people through out their course of life, causing pain, disfigurement, social isolation, distress and death.
- As we know Noma is a rapidly progressing gangrenous infection that affects the face, primarily in malnourished children with poor oral hygiene, living in extreme poverty. It begins as a simple gum infection and lead to severe disfigurement or death within days if untreated. Nigeria falls with the Noma belt SSA falling among countries with the highest prevalence of the disease especially in the Nothern Western region. Factors such as poverty, malnutrition, poor oral hygiene continues to drive the incidence while poor survaillance system means many cases goes undiagnosed and untreated thus leading to avoidable deaths. This therefore is a disease entity that we need to frontally confront with urgency.
The Federal Ministry of Health is working assiduously to ensure that oral health is fully integrated into Primary Health care such that primary health centres provides full complement of primary including oral hygiene education, counselling, essential diagnostics, flouride treatment, restorarive services and referrals when necessary. The reorganization and expansion of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) is ensuring that more funds will be made available to access oral health services especially for vulnerable population.
Dental facilities would be up graded and equipped, to enhance oral health care quality. More Dental professionals will be employed to provide services at these PHCs.
The Ministry has also embarked on training of primary health workers, Community health workers, and traditional birth attendants on early identification, treatment and referral of common oral diseases. This approach is helping to reduce stigmatization, raising awareness about oral health, and ensuring early identification of noma, cleft lips or palates for appropriate referral to comprehensive treatment often provided free. Our commitment is to ensure that Nigerians have access to appropriate oral health services as part of the our universal health coverage agenda. We will continue to train and engage more professionals and ensure that all dental professionals; dental surgeons, therapists, dental technicians, technologists, and assistants are given the opportunity to play their part.
As part of our oral health improvement strategy and in line with the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, priority attetion is also being given to professional development and on the job training including participation in international conferences to engage with the global dental community.The lessons learnt will from these exposure is expected to contribute to Nigeria oral health development and policy enactment in areas such as environmental impact of dentistry, sugar reduction and dentistry.
Noma is preventable and treatable. It is therefore unacceptable that any child in our country should suffer irrevisible disfigurment or die from it. As we mark this day, we recognize the progress made in addressing noma. The inclusion of noma in the WHO’s list of Neglected Tropical Diseases is a testament to our collective efforts, and we must build on this momentum.
The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to improving oral health through an integrated primary healthcare approach, focusing on risks reduction, early detection, diagnosis, and management of oral diseases at the grassroots level. The establishment of the Noma Centre, Abuja and Noma Children Hospital in Sokoto State where Noma patients are treated free, including rehabilitation of these patients into the society demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to address the issue.
Nigeria is ready to continue collaborating with international partners and NGOs to strengthen surveillance, improve early diagnosis, and provide life-saving interventions. We are committed to empowering our domestic health workers and create access for comprehensive oral care at all levels of our health system. But, we need to do more, adopting an intersectoral, all of society approach. We must invest in nutrition, water and sanitation, ,housing, awareness creation, immunization, maternal and child health because noma is not just a medical failure, it is a societal inadequacy.
Health is a shared responsibility. I call on State governments, development partners, civil society, academia, and the private sector to join hands with the federal government in advancing oral health and eliminating noma. Let us build a future where no Nigerian child is lost to a preventable disease, and where every citizen can smile without pain or shame.
Today, we reaffirm our commitment to:
• Strengthen oral health services across all levels of care
• Raise awareness about noma and its risk factors
• Support research and innovation in oral and maxillofacial health
• Ensure that no community is left behind in our pursuit of health equity
Let this day be more than a commemoration, let it be a catalyst. A catalyst for policy change, for more actions, for community mobilization, for hope and for a committed movement to improve dental health and eliminate noma from our country.Together, we can turn the tide. Together, we can protect the smiles and lives of Nigerians.
And so with peace and plenty, Nigeria shall be blessed.
Thank you for your kind attention.
