Conferences on Oral Health

 

In April 2003, the FDI World Dental Federation held an unique workshop on Global Oral Health Planning. The Ferney Declaration on Global Oral Health Development was adopted at this workshop, which recognised "oral health is an integral part of general health and subject to the same determinants". This workshop and declaration marked the beginning of the FDI's focus on oral health development and the high-level conferences and events on oral health promotion that have followed.

Below you will find more information and reports on FDI World Dental Federation conferences and events on oral health promotion that have taken place around the world:

• World Noma Day - 22 May 2008
• Nairobi Conference on Oral Health in Africa - 14-16 April 2004
• Global Oral Health Planning Workshop - 4-5 April 2003

Please note that you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to view the PDFs on this page. You can download by clicking on the logo.

 

World Noma Day

In association with The International NoNoma Federation, the World Health Organization AFRO and the Winds of Hope Foundation, the FDI World Dental Federation co-organised the first World Noma Day on 22 May 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The objectives of World Noma Day were to alert the international community of the ravages of Noma affecting children; increase actions to prevent Noma in the countries concerned; reinforce the commitment of governments to this disease; develop and foster partnerships between private initiatives and government authorities to improve the prevention of Noma; mobilize resources to fight against Noma; implement a policy of common actions to eventually eradicate this disease.

Additional Information
• General Information
• Event Coverage

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Nairobi Conference on Oral Health in Africa


The Planning Conference for Oral Health in the African Region was held in Nairobi, Kenya (14-16 April 2004) and was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization. Read a first report about the conference and more details on other aspects of the meeting.

Conference Report
Electronic version of the conference report is available in English as a pdf file: "Oral Health in the African Region Conference" (480kb)
Le rapport de le Conférence est disponible à télécharger en français en pdf: "Rapport de la Conférence de Planification de la Santé Bucco-dentaire dans la Région Africaine" (480kb)
 

Additional Information
Overview
The conference, organised by the FDI World Dental Federation and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, was a huge success both in terms of attendance and outcome. 189 delegates from 48 African and nine non-African countries - 10 were Ministers of Health or Finance and approximately 30 were Chief Dental Officers - attended. There were also representatives from all FDI Member Associations in Africa. Dr Samba, Regional Director of WHO/AFRO said, that this was a truly historic meeting and "the first ever conference on oral health on the African continent of that magnitude and impact".
The aims of the conference were to sensitise political leaders to the link between oral and general health and to raise awareness of oral health issues. In addition - it was to propose effective strategies to integrate oral health into existing health care systems as well as strengthening public-private partnerships. The deliberations during the conference were mainly based on the existing WHO Regional Oral Strategy for the period 1999-2008.

The Hon Moody Awori, Vice President of the Republic of Kenya, officially opened the conference. Among the many important speakers during the opening ceremony were the Hon Charity Ngilu, Minister of Health of Kenya and Dr Ebrahim Samba, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
Mrs Charity Ngilu said that the problem posed by oral diseases in Africa is compounded by the fact that budgetary allocations to oral health programmes have been minimal. She illustrated the inadequate attention paid to oral health in Africa with Kenya where, she said, "the allocation to dental health care is 0.0016 % of the total health budget". Mrs Ngilu stated that although most oral diseases are preventable, there are few active oral health education and prevention programmes in the region. She finished by urging participants to come up with suggestions to lay the foundation for the development, improvement and coordination of oral health care in the region. Dr Samba declared that the presence at the conference of so many African countries signaled a new awakening to the importance of oral health, and the determination by African governments to face up to the challenges posed.

Dr Bertrand Piccard, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy and a world-renowned balloon pilot, gave the keynote lecture. He had, together with his co-pilot Brian Jones, created "Winds of Hope", a humanitarian foundation to use the financial and media impact of the round-the-world flight to fight suffering in the world. One of the main focus areas are the support of the WHO/AFRO Noma programme.

During the Conference there were lectures by renowned speakers on framework and partnerships, the organisation and finance of oral care, infection control and NOMA – followed by vivid discussions. During the workshops practical issues related to strategic planning for oral health care were debated.

A number of spin-off meetings were organised taking advantage of the unique opportunity to get together (ie FDI lunch with member associations, an informal meeting for a Public Health Training Network in West Africa, a special meeting on oral health in Rwanda and many others).

Conference Aims
1) Get commitment of political leaders by
a. Highlighting the link between general and oral health
b. Highlighting inequalities in oral health status and oral health care

2) Increase the number of functioning national oral health strategies by
a. Training Chief Dental Officers and other involved officers
b. Providing examples of alternative ways of financing of oral health care

3) Develop financial private – public partnerships to improve oral health and oral health services

4) Agree on recommendations arising from the meeting and formulate a document supported by all delegates

Background: Oral Health in Africa

The presence of widespread poverty and underdevelopment in Africa exposes communities to all of the major environmental determinants of oral disease. The profile of oral disease is not homogenous across Africa, with health indicators varying among countries and across groups within countries. The most pressing oral health problems among African communities include:

  • Dental caries;
  • Trauma to teeth and jaws;
  • Oral cancer;
  • Cancrum oris (Noma); and
  • Oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS


These are the diseases that increasingly have the greatest morbidity and mortality of all oral conditions in the region. Taken together they have significant negative impact on the quality of life for millions of people. Other problems include congenital abnormalities, fluorosis (particularly in the Rift Valley area of East Africa), harmful practices, benign tumours and total tooth loss (edentulism). The African region also faces an acute lack of recent, reliable and comparable data as well as processes for converting data into information for planning.

Previous approaches to improving oral health in Africa have been modelled on those of affluent countries and have therefore failed to recognise the epidemiological priorities of the region and identify reliable and appropriate strategies to address them. Efforts have consisted of providing unplanned and inappropriate curative oral services, which in most cases are poorly distributed and reach only affluent or urban communities.

The main problems include:
• Lack of national oral health policies and plans;
• Inappropriately trained dentists;
• Lack of dental auxiliaries;
• Inequality and inequity in services;
• Services that are almost entirely curative;
• Services that are not evidence based; and
• Lack of appropriate equipment and materials and poor maintenance.

Unfortunately, oral health care has low priority in many African countries. Most resources devoted to health are channelled towards the control of communicable (infectious) diseases. In the last few decades, major changes have occurred globally in the patterns of oral disease. Although oral health has improved dramatically in the industrialised world, there has been a general decline in the oral health of populations living in the African region. It is especially worthwhile noting, that in Africa there is an increasing prevalence and severity of dental caries. The most rapid increases are occurring in the urbanised, higher socio-economic groups. Such trends reflect economic and cultural trends in the region with the change of traditional lifestyles i.e. from traditional starchy foods to a greater consumption of refined sugars. Of particular concern is the fact that 90% of the caries in African countries remains untreated.

"The situation in Africa in relation to oral health can be summarised as the absence of an environment conducive to oral health and lack of access to simple, yet appropriate treatment."
Sam Thorpe, Secretary General Commonwealth Dental Association

The shortage of the oral health workforce in many African countries signifies a major obstacle for the provision of oral health care to all people. In many nations, attempts to improve the situation by increasing the dental workforce through training more dentists have failed to improve equity of oral health services. A common scenario is that newly trained dentists tend to cluster in the urban areas, thus leaving a shortage of care in poorer rural regions. This phenomenon is known as the "inverse care law", where communities of greatest need have the least resources and services. Another issue common to many countries around the world, including those in Africa is the migration of trained health professionals from Africa to more lucrative markets overseas. This "brain drain" further exacerbates the shortage of health workers in the African setting. Imaginative solutions are called for in these circumstances.

Read more about the situation of oral health in Africa on the WHO/AFRO website at http://www.afro.who.int/oralhealth/epidemiology.html

Read an editorial in Developing Dentistry written by Dr Sam Thorpe, former Regional Advisor for Oral Health at WHO/AFRO
Oral Health in Africa

Conference Programme
During the conference days delegates discussed the impact of oral disease on their populations while renowned experts highlighted simple but effective public health measures to address the oral bhealth needs. The existing Regional Strategy for Oral Health, drafted by WHO and adopted by all health ministers of the region in 1998, was central to the deliberations. Practical workshops allowed for tangible results and detailed discussions of technical aspects. Several additional and informal meetings took place around the main proceedings, ie an FDI lunch for African Member Associations, a General Assembly of the African Regional Organisation, a meeting of Chief Dental Officers, a meeting on oral health in Rwanda, Women in Dentistry etc.

Nairobi Declaration

A first tangible outcome of the conference was the Nairobi Declaration on Oral Health in Africa that was adopted unanimously. The delegates confirmed their commitment to increase the number of countries with functioning oral health policies in the region and emphasised that the integration of oral health into general health activities and primary health care are essential. The document will help WHO, FDI World Dental Federation, National Dental Associations and governments in their advocacy for the future.

The consequences arising from the Nairobi Declaration will be discussed at the next meeting of African Health Ministers during the WHO/AFRO Regional Committee Meeting in September 2004 and will also be put forward to the African Union in Addis Ababa for further endorsement.

Nairobi Declaration on Oral Health in Africa


A Commitment to Action
The participants at the "FDI World Dental Federation/World Health Organization Planning Conference for Oral Health in the African Region" representing 48 countries (36 from AFRO, 12 from EMRO) welcomed the initiative to examine the impact of oral health problems and their relation to general health in the region and endorsed the aims of the conference.
The participants emphasised that oral health is an integral part of general health subject to the same determinants. They expressed concern about the growing oral disease burden and disparity in health in and between countries in Africa, as well as low availability and access to programmes and services for oral health.

In particular they took note of the following valuable documents:

  • The World Oral Health Report 2003
  • The African Regional Oral Health Strategy 1999 –2008
  • The Global Goals for Oral Health by 2020
  • Writing Oral Health Policy: A guide for Oral Health Managers
  • The Basic Package of Oral Care
  • The WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
  • The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control


The participants hereby affirm their commitment to general and oral health as a basic human right and resolve to work together emphasising the following areas:

  • The development of appropriate oral health policies at national and local level backed by a sustainable oral health dataset to facilitate subsequent evaluation
  • The pursuit of environmental changes and the promotion of lifestyles to the benefit of health
  • The support of affordable preventive strategies, services and the strengthening and rationalisation of human resources for oral heath
  • Policies enabling all people access to an appropriate locally determined programme of essential oral health care that includes pain relief, oral disease control and promotion of oral health and the integration of oral health care in primary health care programmes in an environment that is free from the transmission of infectious disease.


The participants commend the partnership between the FDI and WHO for this initiative and call upon all parties to use their best endeavours to support improvements of oral health.

Nairobi 15 April 2004


Nairobi Declaration
Nairobi Declaration on Oral Health in Africa
Déclaration de Nairobi sur la santé bucco-dentaire dans la région Africaine

Corporate supporters
The FDI World Dental Federation wishes to thank the corporate and NGO supporters of the conference, namely Colgate Palmolive International, Colgate Palmolive East-Africa, Procter & Gamble Oral Care, Unilever Ltd and OSAP for their generous support.

Web Links:
• WHO Global Oral Health Programme
• Interview with Prof Poul Erik Petersen, WHO Global Oral Health Programme, about the results of the conference
• Joint FDI/WHO press releases
• Press release of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo

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Global Oral Health Planning Workshop

The FDI Planning Workshop "Global Oral Health" organised by the World Dental Development Committee was successfully held in France on 4-5 April 2003. The unique gathering brought together more than 70 participants from all over the world and with very different backgrounds. The report of the meeting has finally been released.

Additional Information
Aims of the Workshop
1. To raise awareness, enthusiasm, responsibility and support for oral health development among identified aid organisations and other stakeholders.
2. To facilitate networking, information exchange and development of mutual trust.
3. To introduce the concept of the Basic Package of Oral Care, explore variations addressing the local cultural and economic situations and to get reactions to the concept.

Objectives
1. To introduce participants to the dimensions of poverty, the real health needs of poor communities and the importance of affordability and sustainability of basic oral care.
2. To exchange updated information about current approaches to oral health promotion and to introduce the concept of the Basic Package or Oral Care.
3. To exchange practical experiences on project planning and evaluation.
4. To develop and agree to a charter/declaration on World Dental Development based on the key issues of the Planning Workshop.
5. To explore the way forward in relations between all stakeholders in oral health and the FDI and to create a dynamic network of partners.

Executive Summary
Lire le document de synthèse du Séminaire de planification de la santé bucco-dentaire globale ici
The Global Oral Health Planning Workshop, organised by FDI World Dental Federation, was held in Thoiry, France, on April 4-5, 2003. Eighty-two participants from 32 countries discussed a range of global oral health development issues. Representatives from dental aid organisations, governments, FDI, WHO, universities and the dental industry attended the conference which consisted of presentations, workshops and plenary sessions.

The goals of the Global Oral Health Planning Workshop were to strengthen and maximise the impact development and dental aid initiatives have, and to ensure that appropriate approaches are followed in order in ensure effective collaborate working. It was also an opportunity to introduce basic public health principles to the participants in order for them to incorporate these important messages into their future programmes and initiatives.

Dato Dr A Ratnanesan, President of FDI World Dental Federation, welcomed the delegates. He set the scene by suggesting that the Global Oral Health Planning Workshop was a significant milestone for the pursuit of oral health development globally. In the opening presentation, Prof Poul Erik Petersen, Oral Health Programme, World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, highlighted the importance of collaboration between different stakeholders and outlined procedures for engaging with WHO. The Regional Advisor for Oral Health at WHO/AFRO, Dr Charlotte Ndiaye, then outlined the current status of oral health systems in African countries. She emphasised the importance of assisting countries in developing their own national oral health strategies and highlighted the value of integrating oral health policies into general public health policies. Dr Brian Mouatt, Chairman of the FDI's World Dental Development Committee (WDDC) described and summarised the role of the committee which takes the FDI Mission statement: "to promote optimal oral and general health for all peoples", as one of its founding principles.

Other presentations covered the different aspects of the Basic Package of Oral Care (BPOC). The three key components that constitute the BPOC include: Oral Urgent Treatment (OUT), Affordable Fluoride Toothpaste (AFT), and Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART). Oral health promotion was recognised as being an integral part of the BPOC. Priorities and strategies for promoting and improving oral health care were discussed.

The emphasis of the presentations was on evidence-based approaches with proven effectiveness that are acceptable, feasible, appropriate and affordable for the most disadvantaged communities. The philosophy of Primary Health Care (PHC), with its leading principle of basic care for all and emphasis on prevention as well as affordable and sustainable services was highlighted.

Large segments of the world's population have limited or no access to oral health care. The shortage of dentists and insufficient resources for oral health are often considered the main barriers to future improvements. However, it was noted that increasing the number of dentists and providing them with advanced equipment is usually neither feasible nor appropriate. Instead, the provision of appropriate oral care by properly trained auxiliaries (including professionals complimentary to dentistry and primary health care workers) was encouraged.

Case studies from Cambodia and Tanzania indicate that medical auxiliaries who were trained in a relatively short time could provide basic oral health care to the community in a satisfactory way. Basic oral health care can and should be offered by dental auxiliaries stationed in the first line of PHC. Another presentation, based on the experiences in Nepal described the successful process of advocating for the fluoridation of toothpaste and thus ensuring that the "healthy choice is the easy choice".

This Report acknowledges the central role that the FDI World Dental Federation and WHO have in providing information, support and facilitation in the building of partnerships between National Dental Associations, NGOs, civil society organisations, national governments and industry, in order to improve and promote oral and general health globally.

The Report recognises the important role oral health promotion, advocacy, multi-sectoral working, collaboration, and evidence-based programmes have in achieving "Health For All". The Report firmly recognises that oral health is an integral component of general health. Basic principles and philosophies are outlined that are based on sound dental public health knowledge and cover the most urgent aspects of global oral health development.

The role of FDI World Dental Federation on development issues and in setting standards was also acknowledged. The FDI was commended on this important initiative, encouraged to build upon the achievements of the workshop and to commit itself to supporting the goal of reducing inequalities in health and to increase access to appropriate and affordable oral health care.

Oral health is not just focused on the mouth. It has broad societal impacts and it is important that public and corporate policy makers understand and respond to these broader issues.
The FDI World Dental Federation and WDDC believe that mechanisms need to be established to address these issues in order to ensure that deprived communities benefit. It is recognised that governments, national dental associations, industry, aid organisations and other relevant stakeholders be made aware and sensitised to the existing unsatisfactory state of affairs that are present in oral health globally. These stakeholders must collaborate in order to contribute towards the successful resolution and alleviation of oral health inequalities and thus equitable distribution of oral health.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of the "Ferney-Voltaire Declaration on Global Oral Health Development" where the participants expressed their "concern over the growing disparities in oral health and access to affordable oral health care between the rich and poor throughout the world". The participants also affirmed their commitment to improve oral health through increased access to affordable oral health care and implementation of appropriate oral health policies and development policies more generally.

Full Report
Download the Thoiry Workshop Report (PDF, 2.1MB).
 

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Ferney Voltaire Declaration

FERNEY DECLARATION ON GLOBAL ORAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT

Noting that
"Governments have a responsibility for the health of their people which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures" (Article V Declaration of Alma Ata, 1978), and

Recognising that
Oral health is an integral part of general health and subject to the same determinants. All participants of the FDI Global Oral Health Planning Workshop expressed concern over the growing disparities in oral health and access to affordable oral health care between rich and poor throughout the world and consequently:

Support
The FDI Statement "Improving Access To Oral Health Care",

Acknowledge
The central role of the FDI World Dental Federation and WHO in providing information, support and facilitation in the building of partnerships between national dental associations, NGOs and civil society, national governments and industry,

Affirm
Their commitment to health as a basic human right for all peoples, and

Urge
All concerned with health to work together in a network of formal and informal partnerships to reduce inequalities in health and to increase access to affordable oral health care by developing policies that focus on:

  • Improving living and working conditions
  • Enabling people to adopt healthier lifestyles
  • Encouraging communities to participate in every stage of the policy planning process
  • Enabling all people to access an appropriate locally determined programme of basic oral health care that includes: relief of pain, promotion of oral health and the management of oral diseases and conditions.

The participants of the workshop commend the FDI for this initiative. The participants call upon the FDI to build on the achievements of the workshop and commit themselves to supporting this effort.

Signed by the participants at Ferney-Voltaire, France, on the 5th of April 2003.

 

Ferney-Voltaire Declaration on Global Oral Health Development (PDF,250K)
English
French
Spanish

Supporters
The FDI World Dental Federation thanks the following organisations and companies for their support to the Global Oral Health Planning Workshop:
- ADA - American Dental Association, USA
- AOI - Aide Odontologique Internationale, France
- GlaxoSmithKline Inc, USA
- WHO Collaborating Center Nijmengen, Netherlands

Workshop Participants