In Niger, a country ravaged by poverty, children suffer from Noma, a disease caused by malnutrition and lack of proper hygiene.
According to the United Nations, more than 15 per cent of children under five are famished and between 4,000 and 6,000 infants die of malnutrition each year.
The Country holds the lowest place on the Human Development Index compiled each year by the United Nations Development Programme.
“The problem is that this is a very fast-acting disease, the necrosis takes hold in 72 hours. If the patient comes to us with a blackish patch (on the face) it’s already too late,” Nurse Fati Badamasi, who works for the Swiss NGO Sentinelles told AFP.
Nurse Badamasi added that “It is a disease born of poverty. Well, in Niger there is plenty of poverty.”
Although most African countries have faced Noma, Ibrahim Hamadou, who coordinates the National Programme Against Disease in Niger estimated that 90 per cent of children die before receiving basic care.