Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 5

In May 2022, the Global Strategy on Oral Health was adopted to guide countries in their efforts to curb the burden of oral diseases and conditions. “This is the first-ever comprehensive international policy guidance for countries on how to address oral diseases as public health problems,” says Dr. Habib Benzian, co-director of global health and policy at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Quality Improvement and Evidence-based Dentistry at NewYork University. are addressed when designing inclusive, accessible, and affordable oral health care systems. Second, equity and social justice would need to be at the core of all policies and future initiatives, fully aligned with the goals of primary health care andUHC.Then, the evidence of negative impact of sugar on oral health provides an additional framing option to strengthen upstream population-wide measures, together with limiting the risks from other unhealthy foods. By 2023, the WHO has the mandate to translate the strategy into an oral health action plan including a monitoring framework for tracking progress, with measurable global targets to be achieved by 2030. “All countries will be asked to collect and share data for WHO to report on progress regularly,” says Dr. Benoit Varenne, who is leading the oral health program at WHO. “This will create an unprecedented level of accountability and will encourage countries to take actions.” Oral health had long been a neglected issue on the global health agenda, despite oral diseases being among the most common noncommunicable diseases worldwide and good oral health being confirmed as a fundamental right. According to Dr. Benzian, the new strategy will help to open up new research agendas and promote a shift away from basic research, moving towards applied implementation research. Although the immediate impact of the strategy may not directly affect dentists in North America, Dr. Benzian believes that incremental changes will occur and dentistry will have a major role to play in translating global policy into tangible actions, regulations or guidelines applied to dental practice. Recognizing the importance of oral health and the negative impact of oral diseases on public health, health systems, economies, and societies across the world, the WHO strategy aims for universal health coverage to provide essential oral health services for all people by 2030, so that everyone enjoys “the highest attainable standard of oral health.” The objective of the strategy is to help guide WHO member states in developing ambitious national responses to promote oral health using certain strategic areas that need attention when it comes to reforms and actions. “The benefits for societies in terms of reduced inequalities, enhanced well-being and overall productivity will be enormous,” says Dr. Benzian. First, the strategy aims to include the diverse voices of people livingwith oral diseases in policy dialogues to ensure that the needs and views of disadvantaged populations Recognizing the importance of oral health and the negative impact of oral diseases on public health, health systems, economies, and societies across the world, the WHO Strategy aims for universal health coverage to provide essential oral health care for all people by 2030. Visit CDA Oasis to learn more about the WHOGlobal Strategy on Oral Health: bit.ly/3AJWItZ News and Events