A Scottish surgeon is to reconstruct the face of a woman disfigured by a flesh-eating disease by growing a new nose in her arm.

Peter Ayliffe, a surgeon at Aberdeen royal infirmary, will perform the surgery on Madina Yussuff, 25, after she was granted a visa to fly to the UK from Nigeria. Ms Yussuff suffers from noma, a gangrenous disease known in Africa as the "face of poverty". Much of her face, including her lip and one eyelid, has been eaten by bacteria, and she has spent most of her life in hospitals.

Mr Ayliffe aims to construct a nose under the skin on Ms Yussuff's forearm then graft it onto her face. Bone and cartilage will be taken from her ribs or skull. Prosthetics experts will sculpt this into the frame of a nose, which will be implanted into her forearm after the skin has been expanded. Once the frame has settled, it will be removed together with a vein and artery and grafted to the face.

It is believed to be the first time this process has been used to treat noma, as the advanced techniques are not available in developing countries.

The £30,000 treatment will be funded by charities and do nations from medical firms, and medical staff will work for free. British approval for the trip was granted this week and Ms Yussuff and a Nigerian nurse were given visas after long negotiations.

Mr Ayliffe said: "The critical points will be whether Madina accepts the grafts in her arm and then whether the transfer is accepted on the face.

"The advantage of this technique is that we will be bringing in new blood supply to an area that has been operated on a lot. Many of the techniques we are using have been around for some time, but the idea of prefabricating a nose is relatively new."

Noma, which derives its name from the Greek word "to devour", kills over 10,000 children a year in developing countries, although it can be treated if detected early. The disease is caused by a normally harmless bacteria that can produce gangrene in children whose immune systems have been damaged.

Ms Yussuff contracted measles as a child. Ulcers developed in her mouth, and her lips swelled, followed by gangrene. An Aberdeen hospital spokesman said there had been a long and frustrating battle to get Ms Yussuff treated in Britain.