News & Events
In March 2022, the Noma Project has formally concluded its activities.
Read the Final Scientific Report of the Noma Project!
Edited by Dr Ioana Cismas, the report is based on contributions and research by Professor Emmanuel Kabengele Mpinga, Dr Mirko Winkler, Marie-Solène Adamou Moussa-Pham, Dr Denise Baratti-Mayer, Dr Margaret Leila Srour, Dr Peter Steinmann and Alice Trotter, as well as Dr Gabriel Alcoba, Martin Bovay, Curdin Brugger, Anaïs Galli, Dr Emilien Jeannot, Dr Moubassira Kagone, Maïna Sani Malam Grema and Thomas Fürst.
We hope that our report and the work we have conducted over the years will advance knowledge about noma, support its inclusion on the WHO list of Neglected Tropical Diseases, and engender institutional efforts to prevent and treat the disease and address the human rights impacts faced by survivors!
Final Scientific Report of the Noma Project
Geneva Health Forum:
Watch the Noma webinar recording
The Geneva Health Forum, together with the Institute of Global Health of the University of Geneva, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York organised a webinar on noma.
The online session presented the preliminary findings of the Noma Project.
Geneva Health Forum:
Noma Webinar
The Geneva Health Forum, together with the Institute of Global Health of the University of Geneva, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York are inviting you to a webinar on noma. The online session will present the first findings of a Geneva Health Forum workshop initiated in the framework of the Noma Project.
During this session, researchers involved in the Noma Project will be discussing preliminary findings of a systematic literature review on noma, legal analysis, and in-country fieldwork in Burkina Faso and Niger.
The panel will be chaired by Professor Emmanuel Kabengele Mpinga from the Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva. Questions & answers will be moderated by Dr Ioana Cismas from the Centre for Applied Human Rights & York Law School.
We invite you to an interactive discussion with our researchers with the aim to explore modalities of generating scholarly and social impact relating to noma.
Film Panel Discussion:
Restoring Dignity: Noma and human rights
On 18 May 2021, the International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has organised the Film Panel Discussion: Restoring Dignity: Noma and human rights.
The documentary Restoring Dignity follows survivors in Nigeria, as they visit a specialised hospital in the city of Sokoto, run by the Ministry of Health and supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Over one year, the film follows their journey to heal their wounds and overcome years of isolation. Watch the Restoring Dignity trailer.
Panelists reflected on the film and the importance of a human rights approach to noma. Chaired by the Director of the ICED, Professor Hannah Kuper, the panel included:
Fidel Strub is the President of Noma-Aid Switzerland and noma survivor.
Mulikat Okanlawon, a noma survivor who works in the hospital supported by MSF in Sokoto for noma survivors (recording).
Claire Jeantet, one of the Directors of the documentary ‘Restoring dignity’.
Ioana Cismas, an international law scholar based at the University of York and project co-coordinator of The Noma Project.
Online Event:
Noma, a disease that shouldn’t exist anymore
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in partnership with the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases (ISNTD), Winds of Hope / NoNoma Federation and Inediz are organising the online event “Noma, a disease that shouldn’t exist anymore”.
Date and time: Thursday, 11 February 2021, 12pm to 4pm (GMT)
Location: Free admission, registration required here
The event seeks to raise awareness about noma, a disease affecting children living in extreme poverty and advocates for its inclusion on the World Health Organisation list of Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Alongside survivors of noma and stakeholders from non-, inter- and governmental bodies and academic, four researchers of the Noma project will be speaking at the event.
Dr Denise Baratti-Mayer’s presentation is titled: “What we know and don’t know about noma”
Dr Leila Srour will present on “The hidden face of noma in Laos”
Dr Ioana Cismas will present preliminary results of the Noma project in her talk titled “Noma: burden, realities and framing“
Prof. Emmanuel Kabengele Mpinga will be answering questions during the interactive session “Neglected among the neglected: the paradox of noma”. The session will be moderated by the ISNTD’s Marianne Comparet.
The Noma Project team is immensely grateful to the organisers for convening this extraordinary important event! Join us for the discussions!
New Project Publication:
Why is noma a neglected-neglected tropical disease?
In August 2020, M. Leila Srour and Denise Baratti-Mayer published a viewpoint making a strong case for the inclusion of noma in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The publication is available open source online and in pdf format.
Project Launch:
Noma, The Neglected Disease. An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Its Realities, Burden, and Framing
The project Noma, The Neglected Disease. An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Its Realities, Burden, and Framing was launched in Geneva in October 2019.
Watch Professor Emmanuel Kabengele Empinga, the coordinator of the Noma Project, explain why it is so important to research noma during the launch organised by the Swiss Network for International Studies.