NYU Dentistry hosts a UN side event on oral health and universal coverage

NYU College of Dentistry’s World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Quality Improvement, Evidence-Based Dentistry hosted an event on oral health and universal health coverage on September 20, leading to the second high-level meeting of United Nations Universal Health Coverage held on September 21 in New York.

The event, a collaboration with Lancetfocused on launching the WHO Global Oral Health Action Plan, a commitment to strengthen and scale up efforts to include oral health as part of universal health coverage.

The main message of the event: “Decision-makers, governments, planners must take oral health seriously in the context of universal coverage,” said Dr. Habib Benzian, co-director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Quality Improvement, Evidence-Based Dentistry at NYU. Dentistry.

Last year, WHO published its first Global Oral Health Status Report, which created a comprehensive picture of oral diseases in countries around the world and drew attention to the significant global burden of oral diseases.

“Indeed, oral diseases are very widespread conditions – far more than most people realize – affecting over 3.5 billion people worldwide, and especially those living in poor or marginalized environments,” Dr. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of Lancetsaid in this activity.

Following the status report, WHO adopted a Global Oral Health Action Plan with strong support from member states, which calls for 80% of the global population to have access to essential oral health care services by 2030. Currently, only about 23% of the population has access to these services.

The event featured speakers from WHO, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the ADA Health Policy Institute, who spoke about the need for greater attention to oral health, the integration of oral health care and medicine, and the advancement of health policy. oral health on the global stage.

“Among all non-communicable diseases, oral health is probably the one that lags behind the most with an almost total lack of financial protection,” said Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, WHO Director of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health. “We are at an inflection point for policy implementation.”

Additionally, representatives from several countries – including Israel, Tonga, Canada, India and the US – shared innovative approaches and policies to improve access to essential oral health care.

The event – which took place in person and online, with registrants from 78 countries – was supported by Ministries of Health from Egypt, Israel, Malaysia and Tonga, and by Lancet. A recording of the event is available on the NYU Dentistry website.