The World Health Organization has released a new global guideline, Environmentally friendly and less invasive oral health care for preventing and managing dental caries. The guideline provides evidence-based recommendations to support countries in preventing and managing dental caries through environmentally sustainable and less invasive approaches that promote patient safety, quality of care ... Oral health inequalities Oral diseases disproportionately affect the poor and socially disadvantaged members of society.

Understanding the Context

There is a very strong and consistent association between socioeconomic status (income, occupation and educational level) and the prevalence and severity of oral diseases. A fact sheet on oral contraceptives which provides detail on their effectiveness, health benefits and risks and side effects as well as WHO's work in this area. Oral health is a key indicator of overall health, well-being and quality of life. It encompasses a range of diseases and conditions that include dental caries, Periodontal disease, Tooth loss, Oral cancer, Oral manifestations of HIV infection, Oro-dental trauma, Noma and birth defects such as cleft lip and palate.

Key Insights

Member States have demonstrated their commitment to improving oral health in recent years by adopting the landmark Resolution on oral health in 2021 and the Global strategy on oral health in 2022. This was followed in 2023 by the development of the Global oral health action plan 2023–2030, which translates the vision, goal, and strategic objectives of the global strategy into a series of 100 ... Overview In response to the resolution on oral health (WHA74.5), the WHO Secretariat has prepared a first draft WHO discussion paper containing a proposed draft global oral health action plan. The draft action plan includes a series of evidence-informed actions and a monitoring framework to track progress, with a set of proposed targets, to be achieved by 2030. This draft was used for the ...

Final Thoughts

The novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV2) is currently in the wider use roll-out phase under WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for the control of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) outbreaks, in line with the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immu nization (SAGE) guidance.