Friday Conference: Noma, a Neglected Tropical Disease

Mark Sherlock, MBBS, MRCP, MPH is a health advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and health programme manager for MSF activities in Nigeria, Jordan and Iraq. His career has focused on delivering medical care and implementing public health interventions in complex emergencies, including conflict zones, epidemic outbreaks, and regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. Mark’s work with MSF has taken him to diverse settings, including managing primary healthcare programs in South Sudan, coordinating cholera response teams in Yemen, and leading emergency field hospital setups during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He has also been involved in designing operational strategies to integrate mental health services into MSF’s primary care frameworks, particularly in refugee camps and post-conflict environments.Trained in medicine and public health, Mark’s expertise lies in infectious disease control, healthcare delivery in low-resource settings, and the logistics of scaling health services during crises. His recent work has focused on assessing the impact of armed conflict on healthcare access and advocating for equitable distribution of medical resources in underserved regions. Mark regularly collaborates with academic institutions and global health organizations to improve evidence-based practices in humanitarian settings. His career has focused on delivering medical care and implementing public health interventions in complex emergencies, including conflict zones, epidemic outbreaks, and regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. Noma is a necrotizing disease starting in the mouth. It is estimated to affect 140,000 people every year, mainly children from the poorest communities, and it kills around 90% of them, usually within a few weeks of onset. Since 2014, MSF has been supporting the Noma Children’s Hospital in Sokoto in Nigeria, one of the few in the world. This talk aims to introduce you to this most neglected of neglected disease and to inspire the global health community to take action.