Sustainable health: A global concern

One way of approaching sustainable development is by using the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint. They are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a commitment by the UN member states to work towards achieving a sustainable world and the SDGs have proved useful as guidance for organisations that want to take action for a better future.

There is a growing interest in the SDGs in the healthcare sector, especially in Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages). Goal 3 includes a focus on non-communicable diseases (Target 3.3). Today, caries and periodontitis affect millions of people, and research increasingly links oral disease to several systemic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In light of these facts, the dental profession has a vital role to play in easing the global burden of oral disease by taking a preventative and health-promoting approach.

This viewpoint is a fundamental one also for TePe, a company that continuously supports the dental sector in stimulating oral health. TePe’s products and solutions are all developed in close collaboration with dental professionals to ensure high quality and clinical relevance. Meeting customers’ expectations, the company engages in progress and innovation to constantly broaden the range of sustainable options offered to consumers and customers. TePe’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality in terms of products and packaging by 2022 is a catalyst for improvements such as shifting to renewable or recycled materials, minimising waste, and continuing to use 100% renewable energy in production. In addition, seeking out partnerships to find sustainable solutions for product end of life is a necessity.

Just as the SDGs are interconnected and different actions affect people’s circumstances, collaborations are crucial to achieving the rest of the goals. Goal 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development) calls for governments, the private sector and civil society to collaborate on matters that know no borders.

A recent collaboration of interest to the health sector is the FDI World Dental Federation Sustainability in Dentistry initiative, which unites eco-conscious dental industry partners around a common aim. FDI and its partners, among them TePe, will cooperate in mapping out strategies and implementing solutions to help reduce the environmental impact of dentistry and the dental industry. Indeed, positive development cannot be achieved without the dentists, hygienists and therapists who put their daily efforts into improving the well-being of their clients.

TePe has chosen to focus on seven SDGs. The company’s commitments for a sustainable future and its ways of achieving these can be explored at www.tepe.com.

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