Dental News - Sugar on the table at FDI–NCD Alliance–World Health Organization joint session

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Sugar on the table at FDI–NCD Alliance–World Health Organization joint session

Dr. Benoit Varenne (WHO Oral Health Programme Officer), Dr. Stefan Listl (FDI 2020 Think Tank Member), Verónica Risso Patrón (Coordinator of the Programme of Healthy Eating and Prevention of Obesity, Ministry of Health Argentina) and Katie Dain (NDC Alliance CEO) met at the FDI World Dental Congress for a panel discussion. (Photograph: Monique Mehler, Dental Tribune International)
FDI World Dental Federation

FDI World Dental Federation

Fri. 7. September 2018

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: FDI, the NCD Alliance and the World Health Organization met for a joint session this Friday as part of their ongoing commitment to combat oral disease and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through collaboration and exchange. The session titled, “Curbing the sugar rush: Tackling oral disease and other NCDs through a unified approach”, focused on the alarming escalation of global sugar consumption.

At the meeting, an international panel of health experts, including high-level health advocates and civil society activists offered and discussed strategies to combat this global health threat through cost-effective interventions and preventative measures. For example, reducing daily intake of added sugar, which is one of the principal causes of dental caries, improves oral health outcomes and helps reduce the incidence of other NCDs.

“Public health solutions for the prevention of dental caries are most effective when integrated with the prevention and control of other NCDs, based on the principles of addressing common risks and the wider shared determinants of health,” said Dr Benoit Varenne, WHO oral health programme officer and joint session panellist.

Dr Stefan Listl, dentist and Professor of Quality and Safety of Oral Health Care at Radboud University in the Netherlands, focused specifically on the taxation of sugar-rich foods and beverages, transparent food and nutrition labelling, and broader public health and health promotion programmes.

Dr Verónica Schoj, director of health promotion and NCD control at the Argentine Ministry of Health, presented the recent advances made by the Argentine government in developing, updating and implementing policies that serve to reduce sugar consumption.

Martha Yaneth Sandoval Salazar is an economist and researcher at the civil society organisation Educar Consumidores [educate consumers], which links issues of gender, health, nutrition, law, education, economics, and the environment. She spoke in detail about her own experience and hurdles in implementing a televised public service announcement on sugar-sweetened beverages in Bogotá in Colombia.

Lastly, Dr Varenne, from the NCD prevention department at WHO, presented the work of the WHO’s oral health programme to identify a set of cost-effective and sustainable solutions, or “best buys”, for oral health.

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