NOMA DISEASE. NOMA DISEASE Photo essay in a hospital in Congo Chain of Hope. Child affeted by Noma disease. Noma is also called ´Cancrum oris´. ´Noma´ derives from Greek ´nomein´ which means devouring. It is an affection that starts as a benign lesion of the mouth, then rapidly detroys the soft and hard tissues of the mouth and the face. The result is deformity with all its physical, psychological and social consequences. In general, the victims of Noma are children less than 6 years old of age.