The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for urgent action to address the growing burden of oral diseases in Africa.
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In a message delivered ahead of the global commemoration on March 20, WHO Acting Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, emphasized the need for stronger interventions to improve oral health across the continent.
According to WHO, oral diseases such as dental caries (tooth decay), gum disease, and tooth loss affected 42% of the African population in 2021.
Dr. Ihekweazu said the region also records the highest number of noma cases, a rapidly progressing gangrenous disease of the mouth that primarily affects young children. “If left untreated, noma has a high fatality rate, and survivors often suffer from life-long impairments, disfigurement, stigma, and discrimination”.
“To address these challenges, African countries endorsed the Regional Oral Health Strategy 2016–2025, integrating oral disease control into broader noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention programs”. He said.
Oral diseases share risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption, high sugar intake, and poor socio-economic conditions with other NCDs like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, making an integrated approach essential”. He added.
He said at the global level, WHO has strengthened oral health advocacy through key policies such as: The Global Strategy on Oral Health (WHA75), the Global Oral Health Action Plan 2023–2030 (WHA76).
“With support from partners like Hilfsaktion Noma e.V. and the Borrow Foundation, some African countries have taken notable steps to improve oral healthcare: Lesotho, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone developed national oral health policies, Ethiopia and Kenya trained nearly 180 primary care workers and 1,200 community health workers using WHO’s online courses on noma and oral health, Ethiopia strengthened its noma surveillance system, identifying cases through active case-finding during onchocerciasis mass drug administration campaigns, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia launched a new project to improve access to WHO-listed dental materials, supported by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare”. He explained.
Despite these efforts, Dr. Ihekeazu said the African region still lags behind in key oral health indicators. “Currently, only 17% of the regional population has access to essential oral health services, and progress in disease prevention including fluoride use and sugar reduction is slow”.
“The shortage of oral health professionals remains a major concern. In 2022, Africa had only 56,772 oral health workers (dentists, dental assistants, and therapists), representing just 0.37 per 10,000 people, far below the 158,916 workers (1.33 per 10,000) required to meet demand”. He added.
“To accelerate action, WHO convened its first-ever Global Oral Health Meeting in Thailand (November 2024), bringing together 350 participants, including the Comoros Minister of Health and representatives from 29 African countries. Delegates developed national roadmaps to improve oral health services, and a Regional Framework for accelerating implementation will be discussed at the Seventy-fifth Regional Committee for Africa later this year”.
Dr. Ihekweazu stressed the need for urgent and sustained action, stating: “Now is the time to act. We have the strategy, now we must implement it.”
To achieve this, WHO calls for Stronger engagement of stakeholders from multiple sectors, innovative financing, such as allocating health tax revenue to oral health, integration of oral health services into national health benefits packages, a people-centred approach to implementation.
As the world commemorates World Oral Health Day 2025, WHO urges governments, partners, and communities to work together to improve oral health outcomes and ensure that essential services reach those in need. “Together, we can go further,” Dr. Ihekweazu assured.
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