2 minute read
Executive Director’s Corner
Theresa S. Gonzales, DMD, MS, MSS, FACD
For more than sixteen months, we have been justifi ably focused on the global pandemic and the devastation wrought by COVID 19. Our collective experiences underscore the current realization that infectious diseases continue to emerge and re-emerge. Historically, re-emergence can and does happen because of a breakdown in public health measures for diseases that were previously under control. The emergence/ re-emergence cycle portends challenges not only in infectious disease management but also in developing the appropriate public health response. At present, the global disease mitigation battle rages on two fronts—containing the spread of communicable diseases while simultaneously combating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). It is widely known that noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and they constitute one of the major challenges for sustainable development in the twentyfi rst century. Global analyses of disease burdens provide a useful framework to guide the development of policy in response to disease changes. Recently, it has become increasingly evident that efforts to strengthen health systems through improved data collection and disease and risk factor surveillance systems must integrate oral health. More than a decade ago, the results of the Global Burden of Disease Study (1990–2010) revealed that “oral diseases affect 3.9 billion people worldwide and untreated tooth decay (dental caries) touches almost half of the world’s population (44%), making it the most prevalent of all the 291 conditions included in this study.”
Global health issues remind us—perhaps more than any other issue—that we are all children of the same extended family.
–Kathleen Sebelius
(https://ncdalliance.org/sites/ default/fi les/resource_fi les/ AcceleratingActionOnOralHealthAndNCDs_ WEB.pdf) In 2011, at the UN Summit – the international dental community informed by this ongoing discussion saw an opportunity to move dentistry out of its silo and further resolved to reframe oral health in the larger context of noncommunicable disease. Striving for greater equity across all dimensions of oral health, including reducing disease burden and risk exposure, expanding access to care and prevention, and improving empowerment and participation energized global champions for the iterative development of new oral health policy. A decade later, a resolution on oral health was adopted at WHO’s 2021 World Health Assembly. “The resolution calls for the development of a global oral health strategy by 2022 and action plan by 2023, including a monitoring framework aligned with non-communicable disease (NCD)…”
(https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/ pdf_fi les/WHA74/A74_R5-en.pdf) In view of the rising prevalence and the long-term consequences of NCDs, it is widely known that prevention is a public health priority. Disease prevention depends on many factors like access to health care and supplies, infrastructure, quality health education and access to available resources. Moreover, prevention interventions that target modifi able risk factors and promote healthy living, such as education about NCDs and their risk factors are crucially important. As oral health care providers and trusted members of the health care community, we have a pivotal role in educating and supporting patients to adopt lifestyle changes in order to reduce the prevalence of NCDs. As a profession, we have always understood the role of prevention of disease in achieving optimized health. To this end, we have prioritized prevention strategies by closing the information and as well as the implementation gap. In the weeks and months to follow, there will be much said on this topic and I would encourage dentists to engage in this ongoing dialogue as we make every effort to reduce the burden of both communicable and noncommunicable disease at home and abroad.
