NOMA DISEASE

Photo essay in a hospital in Congo (Chain of Hope).
Child affeted by Noma disease.
Noma is also called 'Cancrum oris'. 'Noma' derives from Greek 'nomein' which means devouring. It is an affection that starts as a benign lesion of the mouth, then rapidly detroys the soft and hard tissues of the mouth and the face. The result is deformity with all its physical, psychological and social consequences. In general, the victims of Noma are children less than 6 years old of age. According to experts, the rate of lethality due to Noma in between 70 and 90 %. Noma occurs in backgrounds of great poverty, where conditions of nutrition, general and bucco-dental hygiene are very poor. Nowadays, Noma can be avoided. In fact, if the disease is detected on time, simple and inexpensive medical care can be administered to stop its evolution and then avoid the deformity of the victims.