150^th Session of WHO’s Executive Board (EB150) agenda item 7 on NCDs — (c) Draft global strategy on oral health

(Document EB150/7, Annex 3)

FDI commends WHO for the updated oral health strategy with a new strategic objective on health workforce, which must explore the optimization of payment systems for providers that encourage prevention.

Poor oral health should be further emphasized as an NCD risk factor, making the case for integration and interprofessional collaboration more explicitly.

WHO recognizes professional bodies as members of civil society and must correctly classify national dental associations and other health professional bodies as such. We are independent not-for-profit organizations committed to promoting oral health, we are not private sector.

We urge WHO to reconsider the prevalence of clefts of the lip and/or palate to be 1 in 700 births, and reflect their many risk factors: also alcohol, certain chemicals and medications, and poor nutrition during pregnancy. Clefts should also be presented as severe conditions with high infant mortality rates when there is no access to surgery.

This statement received the support of Movendi International and Smile Train.

Many of the messages within this statement were also included on the NCD Alliance’s EB150 advocacy briefing, please refer to this document for additional key messages on the draft global strategy on oral health and other NCD documents discussed at EB150.