The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that only 17 per cent of the African population has access to essential oral healthcare services.
The Acting WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
Ihekweazu noted that World Oral Health Day, observed annually on March 20, serves as a vital opportunity to raise awareness and prioritise oral health, an often overlooked but essential component of overall well-being.
He highlighted slow progress in disease prevention, including efforts to reduce sugar consumption and promote fluoride use.
“The oral health workforce also remains inadequate, with just 56,772 oral health workers, including dentists, dental assistants, and therapists, working in the region in 2022.
“This number falls far below the required 158,916 workers needed to meet demand, with only 0.37 workers per 10,000 people, compared to the necessary 1.33 per 10,000.
“To accelerate oral health efforts, WHO convened its first-ever Global Oral Health Meeting in Thailand in November 2024.”
Ihekweazu said that the meeting brought together 350 participants, including the Comoros Minister of Health and representatives from 29 member states.
He added that during the meeting, the delegates developed national roadmaps aimed at advancing oral health across the region.
According to him, a regional framework for accelerating these efforts will be discussed at the 75th Regional Committee for Africa later in 2025.
Ihekweazu emphasised that now was the time to act and urged the implementation of the strategies developed during the meeting.
He advocated for engaging multisectoral stakeholders, securing funding through innovative financing mechanisms, such as allocating health tax revenue to oral health, and integrating oral health services into national benefits packages.
“Oral diseases, including dental caries, gum disease, and tooth loss, affected 42 per cent of the WHO African Region’s population in 2021.
“The region also has the highest number of noma cases, a rapidly progressing, non-contagious gangrenous disease that primarily affects young children.
“If left untreated, noma has a high fatality rate and survivors often suffer from long-term impairments and stigma.”
He said in response to the challenges, member states endorsed the Regional Oral Health Strategy 2016–2025, which integrated oral diseases into non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control programmes.
Ihekweazu said that oral diseases shared common risk factors with other NCDs, such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, high sugar intake, and socioeconomic factors, making an integrated approach more effective.
“At the global level, the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA74) in 2021 recognised oral health as a key part of the NCD agenda and Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“This led to the endorsement of the Global Strategy on Oral Health (WHA75) and the Global Oral Health Action Plan 2023–2030 (WHA76), which includes a monitoring framework.”
He said with support from partners like Hilfsaktion Noma e.V. and the Borrow Foundation, several countries in the region had taken concrete actions.
“These include the development of oral health policies in Lesotho, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
“Additionally, nearly 180 primary care workers and 1,200 community health workers were trained in Ethiopia and Kenya.
“In spite of these advances, the African region continues to lag behind on key oral health indicators.”
NAN
