ESRC IAA: Noma, Human Rights and Global Health

Dr Ioana Cismas is carrying out impact work relating to her research on Noma, Human Rights and Global Health. Noma (cancrum oris) is a disease which affects malnourished children living in extreme poverty conditions. This gangrenous disease starts in the mouth and spreads rapidly destroying the muscles and the bones of the face. If diagnosed at the earliest stages, noma can be easily treated. Yearly, 140,000 children in Africa, Asia and Latin America are affected by noma. The disease has a mortality rate of 90% and the survivors face severe discrimination and violations of a wide range of human rights.

Dr Cismas has secured ESRC IAA responsive mode funding to document the impact of legal documents which she drafted for the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee in 2012, finalise a dossier presenting noma as a neglected disease, and to assist with current lobbying efforts for the inclusion of Noma on the World Health Organisation list of Neglected Tropical Diseases. Ioana is working on this project with various stakeholders, including representatives of the Sentinelles Foundation and the Geneva University Hospitals.