GDA Holds Annual Congress (page 43)

July 2, 2009

THE Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Dr Mustapha Ahmed, has appealed to the Ghana Dental Association (GDA) to help find lasting solution to continuous oral health problems affecting people in the Bongo District.
High level of fluoride in water in the Bongo District has been identified as a contributory factor to the oral health problems of the people in the area.
Addressing the 18th annual congress of the GDA in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Ahmed, who is a dentist, said the incidence of very high level of fluoride in water in the area posed a serious threat to all, particularly children.
The congress, which was on the theme: "Oral Health of the Ghanaian Child - Our Concern" was sponsored by Unilever Ghana Limited.
Dr Ahmed, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso East, said poor oral health was an essential component of the overall health of a person.
Medical researchers have begun to appreciate the complex relationship between poor oral health and its effects on other bodily systems.
As much as 18 per cent of premature births is attributable to poor oral health in mothers while mothers with poor oral health are seven times likely to have a premature and/or low birth weight.
Dr Ahmed said there was even evidence to link poor oral health to cardiovascular disease, poorly controlled diabetes and difficulties in pregnancy and delivery.
The Ayawaso East MP, therefore, called on the government to aim at achieving the global goals for developing better oral health system by 2020.
For her part, Nana Yaa Kissi, the Category Manager (Personal Care) of Unilever Ghana Limited, said oral care was central to every individual's well-being, adding that that was the reason why the organisation had decided to embark on a programme to encourage "Day and Night Brushing" in especially children.
She explained that a major way one could contribute to the oral health of the country was to focus on children who were more likely to get used to new habits.
Nana Yaa Kissi said Unilever had since a School Mission Campaign in 1996 reached up to four million children and hoped to cover about 350,000 this year.
In his welcoming address, the President of the GDA, Dr Eric Asamoah, said there were 172 registered dental surgeons currently practising in Ghana, which gave the dental surgeon-population ratio as 1:116,000, a figure far below the recommended World Health Organisation ratio of one surgeon to 80 people.
In spite of the challenge, he said, dentists in the country were doing their best to offer quality health care to the people and appealed to the government to prevent quarks from practising as dentists.
An exhibition of various oral health care products by Unilever Ghana and other manufacturers was mounted as part of the congress.