By Abbas Bamalli
Kano – Dr. Shafi’u Isa, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of NOMA Hospital in Sokoto state, said no fewer than 47 cases of the mouth infection (NOMA) were recorded from January to date.
Isa disclosed this on Wednesday in Kano at a five-day retreat organised for the staff of Inter-Country Centre for Oral Health (ICOH) for Africa, which was declared open on Monday.
He said that the hospital recorded at least five NOMA cases every week with some of them requiring reconstructive surgery.
According to him, “A total of 127 reconstructions were carried out this year in the hospital and some of the patients were internally displaced children brought from Borno and other troubled areas.”
The Chairman attributed the re-emergence of the disease to non-compliance to timely immunisation and poverty, adding that lack of awareness was also a factor.
He called on ICOH to intensify awareness campaign to enlighten people on the importance of immunisation.
Earlier, Director of the Centre, Dr. Sani Auwal urged Heads of the Public Health and Basic Sciences to liaise with the hospital to get accurate data on NOMA patients.
Auwal said the essence of the training which was the first of its kind organised by the Centre was to review their activities and identify grey areas for workable solutions.
The director further reiterated his commitment to revamp the centre in order to achieve its core mandate of research and training.