National Launch of the Infant Oral Mutilation Project in Morogoro Region (Tanzania)

A guest post from Dr Nila Jackson DDS, Bridge2Aid Trustee

For the past three years the IOM project have been happening in Mara and Kagera region and this year, 2025 is being implemented in Morogoro region whereby it is accompanied by the official national launch of the mutilation terminology in the oral cavity of infants which in our country was commonly used to refer mutilation in the genital organs in females.

The aim of the national launch

1. To raise awareness to the Government on the dangerous implications of IOM and influence health policy change that will have health benefits to this practice
2. To disclose the hidden violence against children practice which for decades IOM has been recognized as one of the alternative treatment options for childhood illness.
3. To engage the Ministry of Internal Affairs who deal with the safety and health protection of children

Approach used in raising awareness

1. Engagement of three art groups; one play and two poems one presented by a national famous poet and the second dramatic poetry that was presented by pupils. Thematic contents discussed was plastic teeth, traditional uvulectomy and franulectomy both being false beliefs that lead to IOM and its dangerous implications and the importance of taking children to the hospital when a child is sick.
2. Speech from Dr Baraka that emphasized on; 1. The establishment of the national health tracking information system to track IOM cases throughout the country, 2. The existence of IOM practices secretly among communities members
3. TDA president Dr Berege called upon the community to end IOM practices whichi is conducted secretly in the community and asked pupils to be good ambassadors
4. PPT which discussed in details about the key contents of the false believes, pictorial presentation on the consequences of IOM and hospital taking of an unwell child for proper management
5. The speech from the guest of honour which described the detailed survey findings in Mara, Kagera and Morogoro the interviews conducted in the maternal and child health clinics to examine the actual situation of oral infant mutilation; the guest of honor revealed that this IOM is still a big problem in our communities; for example, interviews conducted in Kagera Region in 2023 with 1,799 mothers showed that 58% (1,043) of the mothers interviewed opted removal of toothbuds as the right way to treat fever and diarrhea in children. Interviews conducted in 2024 in Mara Region with 2,510 mothers, 45 percent (1,130) of the mothers chose removal of toothbuds, 51 percent (1,280) said that the best way to treat chronic cough in children is to cut the uvula, 68 percent (1,796) of the mothers said that cutting the frenum is the right way to treat the child’s challenge of delayed speech or inability to speak at all. Interviews of 1,345 mothers in Morogoro Region this year 2025 regarding the challenge of infant oral mutilation, 49 percent (653) opted for removal of toothbuds, 63 percent (845) said that cutting of uvula was the right way to treat chronic cough in children and 61 percent (818) said that cutting the frenum was the right way to treat a child’s speech delay or complete absence. The results of these interviews clearly showed that the cruelty of infant oral mutilation still exists in our communities and is practiced with the recognition that it is a treatment provided by famous traditional healers in the communities.

People who attended the launch

Here was a diverse mix of people from central, local government and community level who attended the launching ceremony that includes

There is an advantage of spreading the launching campaign nationally because  most media outlets have a national coverage. (National television coverage was given to this, appearing second after the news on that day’s general election!)

Our thanks go to Dr Nila and his team for their dedication to championing this cause and striving to eradicate this practice.

Extended thanks also go to Dr Baraka Nzobo, Deputy Director of Oral Health Services alongside Dr Gemma Berenge, President of the Tanzanian Dental Association for their support and recognition of the project and to our many donors that enable the project to happen.