Karachi: World Oral Health Day (WOHD) celebrated yearly on March 20th to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth and to promote worldwide awareness of the issues of oral health and the importance of looking after oral hygiene to everyone old and young. Oral diseases affect 90% of the world’s population in their lifetime, many of which can be prevented with increased governmental, health association and society support and funding for prevention, detection and treatment programs. It all starts here, Healthy mouth, Healthy body is the theme of 2016 World Oral Health Day. Dental News in collaboration with Pakistan Dental Association launched World Oral Health Day 2016 (WOHD 2016) in Pakistan with ‘It all starts here, Health mouth, Healthy body’ campaign backed by FDI, JPDA, DTI, FDI partner associations and the local sponsor Shield Corporation. The theme of 2016 is “It all starts here, Health mouth, Healthy body” which is to remind people everywhere about the importance of oral health. This year through active cooperation of Shield Corporation and Pakistan Dental Association the programme has become bigger than ever before with 17 cities and 60 locations across Pakistan and till date is the largest activity of its kind in the country. The sponsors also arranged free checkup of school going children in multiple cities across Pakistan with extensive print and electronic media campaigns to create awareness amongst the masses. World Oral Health Day is an international day to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth and to promote worldwide awareness of the issues around oral health and the importance of looking after oral hygiene to everyone old and young that can be fatal. With more than 90% of all dental diseases go untreated, Pakistan has a long way to go before it can truly celebrate healthy smiles. Almost every Pakistani has or will suffer from oral disease in their lifetime, ranging from gum disease and tooth decay to oral cancer. Only 20% of the country’s population enjoys access to oral healthcare; 50% of school children have dental carries, and Oral Cancer as the second most common cancer in the country. A walk was organized by Liaqat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Hyderabad followed a big symposium to create maximum awareness. The activities in Pakistan started on the 7th of March with school programmes followed by a press conference by Pakistan Dental Association’s officials to highlight the prevailing oral health issues in Pakistan. The free checkup will commence on 21st March and thousands of patients benefited from this activity. Patients were taught correct brushing techniques and were given a tooth brush and paste free of any charge. It is estimated that over 90% of the world’s population will suffer some form of dental disease in their lifetime but many of these can easily be treated or prevented with a good oral care routine. The WOHD 2016 ‘It all starts here, Health mouth, Healthy body ’ is supplemented by the call to action ‘It’s time to act’.
World Oral Health Day is celebrated throughout the world on 20th March and in Pakistan this will be the 6th year running where Shield Corporation as part of their CSR activities sponsored the mega event. In Pakistan, Shield Corporation Ltd. has been working in the oral cancer category for over 30 years and like previous years, Shield® has again joined hands with the internationally celebrated WORLD ORAL HEALTH DAY in order to highlight the importance of oral hygiene and set up offers the dental and oral health community an action platform to help reduce the global oral disease burden. Shield® in collaboration with Dental News which since the past decade is giving timely coverage of the most revealing discoveries in the field of dentistry is committed to undertake and participate in all activities with Pakistan Dental Association to bring out positive change in the oral health of the population. Several senior dentists, including Dr. Arif Alvi, Dr. Talha M. Siddiqui, Dr. Mahmood Shah, Dr. Asif Niaz Arain, Dr Syed Shah Faisal shared their video messages for the masses on the occasion on the social media. The Social media activity on the World Oral Health Day 2016 was tremendous and was seen all over the world.President Dr Saqib Rashid at #WOHD16 press conference with Drs Mehmood Shah, Syed Shah Faisal and Mr. Farrukh Iqbal pic.twitter.com/WlvJ2n849D
— PakDentalAssociation (@PakDentalAssoc) March 18, 2016
Great to see #WOHD16 celebrations from across the globe. https://t.co/5tU07TuF4v — FDI World Dental Fed (@worldentalfed) March 18, 2016
Dr. Arif Alvi WOHD16 Message (HD)Dr. Arif Alvi's message on World Oral Health Day 2016. We're proud to share that, he was the person, as a leading counsellor for the world dental federation credited with the idea of starting the world oral health day — this public service initiative is in its fifth year runningIn 2014 Dr Arif Alvi insisted upon the Govt of Pakistan to adopt 20th March as national oral health day and the resolution was adopted on 25th February 2014 in the National Assembly Brush twice a day and for atleast two minutes using a flouride based toothpaste#WOHD16 #ItAllStartsHere #AlviDental Posted by Alvi Dental Hospital on Sunday, 20 March 2016
The participating institutions included Ayub Medical and Dental College, Women Medical College the University of Faisalabad, Punjab Medical College Faisalabad, Aziz Fatima Hospital, Isra University, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Civil Hospital Hyderabad, Islamabad Medical & Dental College, Margalla College of Dentistry, Riphah International, Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine, Bahria University, Baqai Medical & Dental University, Dow International Dental College, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University, Dr Ziauddin University, Fatima Jinnah Dental College, Hamdard University Dental Hospital, Jinnah Medical & Dental College, Karachi Medical & Dental College, Liaquat College of Medicine & Dentistry, Sir Syed Dental College, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Madina Medical Center Bin Qasim, CMH Lahore Medical College, de'Montmorency College of Dentistry, FMH Medical & Dental College, Lahore Medical & Dental College, The University of Lahore, Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, Faryal Dental College, Bhitai Medical & Dental College & Hospital, Nishter Medical & Dental College, Multan Medical & Dental College, Khyber College of Dentistry, Sardar Begum Dental College, Bacha Khan Medical College Mardan, Bolan Medical College, Bibi Asefa Dental College, Sheikh, Zayed Hospital RYK and Islam Dental College. Rural Health Center Chaakwal, Dr. Khalid Dental Surgery Sukkur, Niazi Medical Complex Sargodha.
#WOHD16 celebrations in #Pakistan with @worldentalfed pic.twitter.com/jBoWGM9aVM — Dental News Pakistan (@DentalNewsPk) March 19, 2016Incidence of Oral Cancer is the second biggest cancer in Pakistan and needs urgent attention and activities like Dental News which has spearheaded and initiated the World Oral Health Day in Pakistan with its sponsor Shield Corporation since 2010 has been working tirelessly to create oral health awareness throughout Pakistan with continued support from dental institutions where OPDs are free to mark the day.
