Noma, surgery for a new life

A La Chaîne de l’Espoir maxillofacial and plastic surgery mission focusing on the after-effects of Noma and cleft lip and palate will take place in Burkina Faso from May 1 to 10.

This mission is part of the program set up by La Chaîne de l’Espoir in 2014 to treat these disabling pathologies and train local medical staff. In 2018, with the support of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), this project will include two missions per year, with a large component devoted to raising awareness among local populations, prevention and social follow-up for patients.

For this mission, La Chaîne de l’Espoir will be sending a team to the Polyclinique Notre Dame de la Paix in Ouagadougou, led by Pr Narcisse Swetyenga of Dijon University Hospital, along with three other plastic surgeons, two anesthetists and four nurses.

The first day of the mission is devoted to consultation and selection of small patients. 50 of them should benefit from facial reconstructive surgery.

As with previous missions, local partners are very much involved: Fondation Sentinelles, Bilaadga, Hymne aux Enfants and radio station La Voix du Paysan.

Noma, the disease of poverty due to malnutrition

Noma mainly affects premature babies and infants in Africa and South America.

Causing facial deformities, the children face life-threatening nutritional difficulties, as well as hearing, breathing and speech disorders. According to the WHO, 140,000 new cases are recorded every year , and suffer social exclusion due to a society where superstition and stigmatization play a major role.

In Burkina Faso, La Chaîne de l’Espoir and its partners have noted that this terribly deforming disease is unfortunately still poorly understood by the local population and medical staff.

>> Find out more about our actions in Burkina Faso

La Chaîne de l’Espoir is an international NGO founded in 1994 and present in nearly 30 countries. Its mission is to strengthen healthcare systems to give everyone, especially children, the same chances of survival and development.