A coalition of 17 dental organizations and the president of Tanzania are urging the U.S. delegation and the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly to make oral health a priority in the international community, ADA News reported.
In a letter dated July 26, they called upon the U.N. General Assembly to act on the recommendations of the "Oral Health: Action Plan for Promotion and Integrated Disease Prevention" report adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2007, the article stated. To do so would require the U.N. General Assembly to change a previous document, Zero Draft, regarding prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, the article noted.
The letter also requests that the General Assembly recognize that oral diseases are associated with unhealthy diets, that dental caries is a "widespread cause of morbidity," and that oral diseases are a significant noncommunicable condition affecting public health, per conclusions previously reached by the World Health Assembly, the article stated.
The Dental Trade Alliance, International Association for Dental Research, American Dental Association, and Academy of General Dentistry were among the 17 organizations that endorsed the letter.
The president of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Jakaya M. Kikwete, will participate in a symposium for health ministers and heads of state on September 19 at the New York University College of Dentistry. He will speak about the burden that oral disease places on developing nations.
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