Nigeria seeks N70bn to implement five-year Oral Health Plan -- Minister

By Precious Dipe 

Nigeria requires about N70 billion over the next five years to implement its National Oral Health Strategic Plan 2026–2030, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, has disclosed.

Salako, who made this known in Abuja on November 9, said the plan was designed to expand access to affordable oral healthcare, strengthen preventive services and integrate oral health into primary healthcare delivery across the country.

Speaking at the commemoration of National Noma Day and National Oral Health Day, where he officially launched the strategic plan, the minister said the government was determined to end the neglect of oral health and make it an integral part of Nigeria's Universal Health Coverage drive.

He urged state and local governments to domesticate and implement the plan, while calling on development partners and health professionals to support its execution.

According to him, the five-year roadmap prioritises preventive care, improved access to dental services, workforce development, stronger referral systems and expanded oral healthcare coverage across all 774 local government areas.

Salako said the plan also provides for school oral health programmes, access to fluoride toothpaste, sugar-reduction initiatives and the integration of oral health into nutrition, maternal and child health and non-communicable disease programmes.

He said: "The Plan also seeks to strengthen the health system through the training and equitable distribution of oral health personnel, including Dental Therapists and Dental Surgery Technicians; improved primary healthcare infrastructure and equipment; stronger referral systems; expanded access to care across all 774 Local Government Areas; and enhanced governance, financing, monitoring, and accountability."

The minister identified the country's high burden of untreated oral diseases and inadequate dental workforce as major challenges, noting that more than 80 per cent of Nigerians had never visited a dentist, while two out of every three children lived with untreated dental caries.

He put the dentist-to-population ratio at approximately one dentist to 38,000 people, compared with the World Health Organisation's recommended ratio of one to 7,500.

Salako said most Nigerians still paid out-of-pocket for dental services and often sought treatment only when pain or serious complications developed.

He said the Federal Government was pursuing the integration of oral healthcare into primary healthcare facilities through the Sector-Wide Approach and Basic Health Care Provision Fund to make services more accessible and affordable.

The minister also disclosed that the Federal Executive Council had approved the National Centre for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 and forwarded it to the National Assembly for consideration.

On Noma, Salako described the rapidly progressing disease, which destroys tissues of the mouth and face, as an unacceptable public health challenge that should have no place in the 21st century.

He warned that what often begins as a gum infection in a malnourished or immunocompromised child could progress within days to severe facial destruction, disability and death if left untreated.

Nigeria, he said, carries one of the highest burdens of Noma globally, with the North-West and North-East particularly affected.

He noted that survivors also face stigma, social isolation and exclusion, describing the World Health Organisation's recognition of Noma as a neglected tropical disease in 2023 as a significant milestone in efforts to address the condition.

Salako said the government had integrated Noma surveillance into the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system and was strengthening the capacity of primary healthcare facilities to identify and refer suspected cases at the earliest stages.

He added that the ministry had trained frontline healthcare workers, traditional healers and traditional birth attendants in 19 states on early identification of Noma and other oral diseases.

Although Noma is more prevalent in northern Nigeria, the training exercises had also resulted in the identification of cases in the South-East, South-South and South-West, underscoring the need for a coordinated national response.

The minister identified good nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, routine immunisation, proper oral hygiene and prompt treatment of childhood illnesses, including measles and malaria, as essential measures for preventing Noma.

He called for sustained collaboration among government agencies, healthcare professionals, researchers, civil society organisations and development partners to strengthen surveillance, early diagnosis and access to treatment.

Salako specifically commended Médecins Sans Frontières and the Noma Aid Nigeria Initiative for their work at Noma treatment centres in Sokoto and Abuja.

He also urged dental professionals to break down professional barriers and embrace coordinated, people-centred care, while calling on international partners, including WHO, UNICEF and the FDI World Dental Federation, to sustain their support.

The minister said the government's ambition was to ensure that no Nigerian child died or suffered permanent facial disfigurement from a preventable and treatable disease such as Noma.

He called on stakeholders to renew their commitment to eliminating Noma as a public health problem and ensuring that every Nigerian could access quality oral healthcare.

Bean-based chewing gum removes 93% of HPV in saliva, study finds

By Seun Greeners

A new bean-based chewing gum developed by researchers in the United States has shown promising potential to reduce the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV), a major cause of throat cancer, by up to 93 per cent in saliva samples.

The experimental gum, made from lablab beans, also demonstrated the ability to eliminate more than 99 per cent of two cancer-associated bacteria in laboratory tests, raising hopes for a potentially inexpensive approach to reducing exposure to cancer-linked microbes in the mouth.

The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, were reported by a research team led by Henry Daniell of the University of Pennsylvania.

HPV is responsible for most cases of oropharyngeal cancer, which affects the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils, in the United States. The infection is transmitted through oral contact, and HPV-related throat cancers have become an increasing concern, particularly among men.

The researchers developed the chewing gum using lablab beans (Lablab purpureus), which naturally contain a protein known as FRIL. The protein belongs to a class of plant compounds called lectins, which can bind to viral particles and cause them to clump together.

By trapping viral particles in clusters, FRIL could potentially reduce the amount of detectable HPV in saliva and limit opportunities for its transmission.

To investigate its effectiveness, the researchers processed lablab bean powder into chewing gum tablets and tested extracts from the formulation using donated saliva and mouth-rinse samples from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The results showed that the bean-based gum reduced detectable HPV levels by approximately 93 per cent in saliva samples and 80 per cent in mouth-rinse samples.

The study also tested a second formulation containing protegrin-1, an antimicrobial peptide added to the bean-based preparation to target harmful bacteria.

A single dose of the formulation reduced two bacteria associated with head and neck cancers, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, by more than 99 per cent in the tested samples.

Significantly, the researchers reported that the formulation largely spared beneficial bacteria, including certain protective strains of streptococci, suggesting that it could target harmful microorganisms without indiscriminately disrupting the oral microbial community.

The findings are particularly relevant as researchers continue to investigate the contribution of oral infections and microbial imbalances to the development and progression of head and neck cancers.

While HPV vaccination remains the established preventive intervention against vaccine-targeted HPV infections, the researchers believe the chewing gum could eventually offer an additional approach to reducing viral presence in the mouth.

Daniell said the findings provide a basis for advancing the experimental formulations into clinical trials to determine whether the observed effects can be reproduced when people actually chew the gum.

However, the researchers cautioned against interpreting the results as evidence that the gum can prevent or cure cancer.

The experiments were conducted outside the human body using donated patient samples. The gum itself has not yet been evaluated in clinical trials involving people, meaning its safety, optimal dosage, duration of action and effectiveness in reducing HPV transmission remain unknown.

Whether regularly chewing the formulation can produce sustained reductions in oral HPV levels or translate into fewer cancer cases will also require further investigation.

Nevertheless, the researchers say the plant-based approach offers an interesting possibility for developing an affordable, locally delivered intervention that could complement existing HPV prevention strategies.

For now, the findings represent an early scientific advance rather than a proven preventive treatment, but one that researchers believe is promising enough to warrant testing in humans.

Source: Daniell H. et al. (2026). Ex vivo HNSCC clinical studies using saliva and antiviral or antibacterial chewing gums reveal reduction in carcinogenic microbes. Scientific Reports, 16, 7886.