At the La Rochelle clinic in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, patients are regaining hope. The NGO “Sourire un jour” organized a humanitarian mission during which volunteers operated free of charge on noma victims.
Noma would reach 500,000 people worldwide, especially in Africa. It is nicknamed “mouth gangrene”. It is a devastating bacterial disease, which mainly affects young children (under 6 years old). It is fatal in 80% of cases, patients often do not have access to antibiotics to treat it.
Those who survive it remain disfigured. Noma “eats” mucous membranes, bones and skin in a few weeks, leaving holes or growths on the face. Patients can lose their nose, their lips, leaving the gums visible.
Patients excluded from society
“It’s a disease of poverty, malnutrition, people who live in poor hygienic conditions,” Angel Emparanza, a volunteer Spanish surgeon specializing in maxilofacial repair, told AFP.
The social repercussions of this disease are dramatic. “It’s a disease but in the villages, you can see devilry, witchcraft. People who suffer from it are excluded,” Ivorian medicine professor Guy Varango told AFP.
This exclusion, Flora Doumé, 20, suffered a lot. “I’m locked up because of this… I can’t read or write, I didn’t go to school, I can’t work,” laments the young woman, still to AFP. She has been a recluse for 17 years because noma caused a growth of flesh to grow over her left eye, which eventually covered half her face.
At the clinic, the emotion is very strong for the patients who are eager to discover their new face in the mirror. Flora, moved to tears, receives a compliment for the first time in her life. Seeing herself, she is happy. “I will be able to have a husband and children”, concludes the young woman.
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