Dental News - Oral health to be brought into focus during United Nations General Assembly

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 26. September 2018

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NEW YORK, U.S.: As part of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that is currently taking place in New York, the UN will hold a one-day comprehensive review of the progress achieved in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Taking place on September 27, the high-level meeting will be attended by over 40 world leaders seeking to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.4: to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by over one third by 2030.

At this year’s UNGA, the Academy of Dentistry International (ADI) will also be advocating for governments to recognize that oral diseases are some of the most prevalent NCDs on the planet. According to the ADI, 3.5 billion people suffer untreated oral diseases from which the indirect costs, such as time away from school and work, amount to more than US$140 billion per year, ranking the indirect costs of oral diseases within the range of the top 10 global causes of death.

Speaking to Dental Tribune International, ADI’s Vice President of International Affairs Dr. David C. Alexander said, “ADI takes its formal consultative status with the UN very seriously and has an opportunity to address oral diseases and their major risk factors within the context of not only health which is obvious, but also the context of human development.”

As ADI is the only direct membership advocacy group for oral health in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council, it will be represented at many of the events running alongside the high-level meeting. Part of the ADI’s presence will be to push for all UN Member States to recognize oral disease as a major social, economic and developmental burden on society and national development, and an indicator of common risk factors predisposing to other NCDs that is largely preventable through tough actions.

“The ADI team includes two dental professionals and, most importantly, a physician with vast experience in health advocacy and on-the-ground work on the African Continent. We have a busy week with two or three events each day leading up the major event, the high-level meeting itself. We hope in future years we can build a truly global alliance for oral health, learning from other disease-related advocacy groups who have truly demonstrated best practices in their own effectiveness,” explained Alexander.

Some of the events to be attended by the ADI’s representatives include The Access Challenge: Forum on Non-Communicable Diseases; UN Development Program: Curse or Cure? Leaving No One Behind in an Age of Technological Revolution; Government of Uruguay and WHO: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Time to Deliver; Government of Uruguay and WHO: Combating NCDs is a Political Choice; and New York University: Oral Health and NCDs—Accelerating Integrated Global Progress.

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