The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding access to oral health services, particularly for vulnerable populations, by increasing funding and strengthening key programmes aimed at improving national oral health outcomes.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, outlined the plans on Tuesday during the 2025 National Oral Health Week and Noma Awareness Day, emphasizing the administration’s determination to address preventable oral diseases.
He explained that additional resources would be channeled through the restructured Basic Health Care Provision Fund to support improved service delivery, facility upgrades and equitable access to oral health interventions across primary healthcare centres.
Salako said the government intended to integrate oral health into the primary healthcare system to enable facilities to provide hygiene education, counseling, diagnostics, fluoride treatments, restorative services and timely referrals needed to enhance community oral health.
He also noted that community health workers and traditional birth attendants were being trained to identify and refer oral health conditions early, in line with national efforts to reduce preventable suffering and improve survival among disadvantaged groups.
The minister described noma as a devastating gangrenous disease affecting malnourished children in impoverished communities, stressing that it is both preventable and treatable when early detection, good hygiene and adequate nutrition are ensured.
He added that Nigeria was working with global partners to strengthen surveillance, enhance early diagnosis and expand treatment, while investing in nutrition, sanitation, housing, immunization and maternal health as essential preventive measures.
Mathis Winkler, Chairman of the NOMA Aid Nigeria Initiative (NANI), said Nigeria bears Africa’s highest noma burden, and highlighted the organization continued investment in treatment, prevention, community support and collaboration with government agencies.
Dr. Charles Ononiwu, Country Director of NANI, reported that the organizations treatment centre in Abuja had completed 237 free noma surgeries since 2023, covering transportation, medication, feeding and other support services for extremely poor patients in need of comprehensive reconstructive care.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Country Representative, Dr. Ahmed Aldikhari, said MSF had provided reconstructive surgeries, physiotherapy, nutritional support and mental health services since 2014, completing more than 1,600 surgeries nationwide and contributing to noma’s recognition as a neglected tropical disease.
Mrs. Amos Magaji confirmed that legislative efforts were underway to establish policies for noma prevention and treatment, strengthen neglected tropical disease regulations and expand specialized centres, ensuring no child suffers avoidable deformity or preventable death.
