Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The federal government, states and local governments are to spend about N70 billion over the next five years to implement the National Oral Health Strategic Plan (2026 to 2030).
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, unveiled the plan in Abuja at the commemoration of the 2026 National Noma Day and National Oral Health Week.
Salako said the plan, developed through extensive consultation with the Nigerian Dental Association, other dental professional bodies, academic institutions, development partners and state governments, was part of the roadmap towards achieving universal health coverage for oral health.
He said about 49 per cent of the funding was expected from states and local governments, about 30 per cent from the federal government, and the remainder from development partners.
“The costing of N70 billion is a minimum required to implement the strategic plan. It does not mean that if we have more, we cannot utilise it efficiently and judiciously,” he said.
He stressed that Noma, a rapidly progressing gangrenous disease of the mouth and face that destroys tissues of affected children, should have no place in Nigeria in the 21st century.
Salako stated, “What often begins as a simple gum infection in a malnourished and immunocompromised child can, within days, result in devastating facial destruction, disability and even death if left untreated.”
The minister said Nigeria carried one of the highest burdens of Noma disease in the world, particularly in the North-west and North-east, while survivors faced stigma, social isolation, and exclusion.
Salako recalled that World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised Noma as a neglected tropical disease in 2023, a process Nigeria played a major role in ensuring, describing it as a landmark victory for affected children.
He said Noma was preventable through good nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, routine immunisation, proper oral hygiene, and prompt treatment of childhood illnesses, such as measles and malaria.
The federal government, he said, had integrated Noma surveillance into the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System and was working to ensure primary healthcare facilities could identify and refer cases at stage zero and stage one, when intervention was most effective.
“No child should die or suffer permanent disfigurement from Noma in Nigeria again,” he said.
He disclosed that the ministry had trained frontline health workers, traditional healers, and traditional birth attendants on early identification of Noma and other oral diseases in 19 states, leading to detection of cases even in the South-west and South-south.
Salako also lamented the poor state of oral health generally, stating that over 80 per cent of Nigerians have never visited a dentist, two out of every three children live with untreated dental caries, while the dentist-to-population ratio is about 1:30,000, compared to WHO’s recommendation of 1:7,500.
Most Nigerians, he said, paid out-of-pocket and sought care only when pain or serious complications developed.
To reverse the trend, he said government will integrate oral health into primary healthcare through the sector-wide approach and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund. He acknowledged the senate for work to increase BHCPF allocation by 100 per cent.
He also said the Federal Executive Council had approved the National Centre for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 for transmission to the National Assembly.
The plan prioritises prevention through access to fluoride toothpaste, school oral health programmes, sugar reduction initiatives, and integration into nutrition, maternal and child health and non-communicable diseases programmes.
It also seeks to strengthen the health system through training and equitable distribution of personnel, improved primary healthcare infrastructure, stronger referral systems, expanded access across all 774 local government areas, and enhanced governance, financing and monitoring.
Salako urged states and local governments to domesticate and implement the plan, partners, including WHO, UNICEF and FDI, World Dental Federation to sustain support, and dental professionals to break down silos and embrace integrated, people-centred care.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, said adequate allocation had been made in capital budgets for the Noma Children’s Hospital, Sokoto, and Senate has passed the increase of BHCPF from one per cent to two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to strengthen primary healthcare, including oral health.
WHO Country Representative, Dr. Pavel Ursu, represented at the event, said Noma predominantly affected children aged two to six living in poverty and malnutrition, but it was preventable and early treatment could halt progression.
Ursu called for integration of Noma prevention, early detection, and referral into routine primary healthcare, child health, nutrition and oral services, and sustainable domestic financing.
The Noma Aid Nigeria Initiative also pledged continued partnership, stressing the need to reach patients earlier, strengthen awareness and referral, and listen to survivors.
Giving an overview of the plan, the chairman of the development team, Professor Osawe Omoregie, said only about 1.5 to two per cent of the health budget was allocated to oral health services, underscoring the need for increased funding.