Prevention and detection efforts for noma improved by HKU Dentistry study

Common in areas which lack proper healthcare infrastructure and preventable through a combination of proper nutrition and oral hygiene, Noma is a facial gangrenous disease with a mortality rate of 80 to 90% that occurs mostly frequently in impoverished communities in sun-Saharan Africa. 

A collaborative international research team led by the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong has shone a light on this globally neglected disease, mapping the incidence of noma of Nigeria, in the process providing an important new tool to support prevention and early detection efforts. 

Professor John Adeoye, Assistant Professor in Digital and Precision Dentistry from the Division of Applied Oral Sciences and Community Dental Care at the HKU Faculty of Dentistry led the research team which included researchers from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, the Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation, Federal Medical Centre Kebbi, Noma Children's Hospital, Obafemi Awolowo University, Bayero University Kano, and the University of Iowa.  

The team analysed 25 years of clinical data collected at the Noma Children's Hospital in Sokoto, Nigeria, and applied advanced incidence estimation and spatial modelling approaches to map noma incidence risk across 296 local government areas in the country, revealing 64 previously unrecognized areas with significantly high noma incidence. 

The benefits of the research are considerable and will allow governments, healthcare workers and non-government organisations (NGOs) to devise targeted noma elimination programs to strengthen prevention and early detection, not only in Nigeria but throughout other high-risk areas in Africa. 

The research team is already working with NGOs in Nigeria to translate research findings into community health action with support from HKU Exchange Scheme for Impact Projects.