Dr Olaniyi Taiwo, Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Intercountry Centre for Oral Health (ICOH) for Africa, Jos, has called for greater national attention to oral health as a key component of sustainable development.
Taiwo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 58th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) in Abuja.
He spoke on the theme “Healthy Smiles, Sustainable Futures: Integrating National Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
He said there could be no sustainable development without health, and no health without oral health, noting that oral health, in spite its strong links to overall well-being remains largely excluded from national development conversations.
Taiwo said implementation of the national oral health policy remained weak, and oral health services were yet to be integrated into Nigeria’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) package.
He added that the country’s oral health survey data were outdated, while surveillance systems were underfunded, hindering effective planning and resource allocation.
According to him, an estimated 3.5 billion people globally are affected by oral diseases, yet oral health is still neglected and not adequately reflected under UHC or SDG 3.
He noted that in Nigeria, dental caries, periodontal diseases, oral cancers and other NCD-related oral conditions remain highly prevalent, despite being largely preventable.
Taiwo said oral diseases continue to cause pain, disfigurement, reduced productivity and economic burden, even as oral health receives less than one per cent of the national health budget.
He added that international donor agencies rarely prioritise oral health in their funding portfolios.
He stressed that dentistry contributes to all three pillars of sustainable development; economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection through productivity, social participation and sustainable clinical practices.
“Dentistry is not isolated; it is interwoven with human development,” Taiwo said.
