The Deadly Disease You Never Heard About

Mulikat now works as a hygiene officer for MSF at the Sokotot hospital, teaching patients and their families. “When other patients call me and see me, they will know that there is life after noma. When there is life, there is hope. And noma disease is a disease that is treatable. It is not a contagious disease. It is preventable.”

The WHO needs to declare noma an NTD

There are now 30 other countries supporting Nigeria’s request to WHO to declare noma an NTD. This is important in seeking sorely needed grants for research into the prevention of noma, as well as for treatment.

MSF is also hoping to encourage screening for noma along with other NTDs as part of routine health care. Sherlock noted that vaccination against childhood diseases would reduce noma because infections like measles are very immunosuppressing. So is childhood malaria. He hopes that declaring noma an NTD will shine a spotlight on the “most neglected of neglected diseases” and that noma prevention and treatment will be integrated into existing public health programs and allocation of resources.

What can you do?

Help raise awareness and understanding of noma. Help officials and potential donors understand that there are inexpensive, effective treatments available for noma, even in the face of poverty, especially if noma is diagnosed early.

Here is a clip of Mark Sherlock and noma patients. [Content warning: disturbing images]:

This website, below, makes it possible to become better educated about noma, to organize a screening or to watch the film Restoring Dignity directly:

Restoring DignityRestoring Dignity

It is a tough, graphic film, but seeing Mulikat and others’ resilience and hope is inspiring. Claire Jeantet, the photojournalist and film maker behind the documentaries Surviving Noma and now Restoring Dignity said, “As soon as you know about noma, you have to do something.”

Medical practitioners can take a free online course offered by the WHO:

OpenWHONoma: training of health workers at national and district levels on skin-NTDs

It covers noma’s epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment.

Asked about her global advocacy now and speaking to international audiences, Mulikat said, “I have joy in my heart, and I can do things as others were doing. I have enough courage now that there is nothing…I cannot do.”

Correction: Post amended to say Mulikat has a diploma in health information managment 3/15/23 and her quote was shortened.

Sherlock estimates...Was corrected to cites data that...For two states.

For more information:

Doctors Without Borders website on noma: noma.Msf.Org

Doctors Without Borders press release on noma: Calling global attention to noma, "the most neglected of neglected diseases"

Elysium Noma Survivors Association (co-founded by Mulikat Okanlawon and Fidel Strub): elysium-nsa.Org

World Health Organization informational brochure on noma.

The 10 Deadliest Battles In World History.

War is never pretty, but there can be levels even to the cruelty and ugliness of war, with some almost inconceivably horrendous. Such levels can be measured by one macabre metric: the number of deaths in a battle.

To determine the 10 deadliest battles in world history, 24/7 Wall St. Reviewed Deadliest Battles In Human History from World Atlas. (These are the wars in which the most Americans died.)

Though today’s technologically advanced weapons are capable of inflicting more casualties than any time in history, they are also more targeted thus able to reduce casualties. In fact, none of history’s 10 deadliest battles have taken place since the end of World War II. (Here are the countries that control the world’s nuclear weapons.)

Deaths from these 10 battles total 14.2 million, including nearly 8 million lost from 1941 to 1945. These deaths include soldiers and civilians either caught in the crossfire of combat or compelled to fight for their survival. These estimates do not include people who died from famine or disease in the aftermath of these battles, but rather are the estimated number of deaths caused during the time period of each battle or series of battles.

In eight of the 10 deadliest military battles in history, Germany was the aggressor during the World Wars, while one took place in China and another in the 13th century. Half of these battles involved Russians punching back at German attackers. One of these battles lasted more than two years, while another lasted just 13 days.

Here are the 10 deadliest battles of history

The Deadly Disease You Never Heard About — And How You Can Help

The 10 Deadliest Battles In World History.