Ten million School children across the country will be taught about the need to brush their teeth twice daily by 2020. This initiative is by Unilever; producers of Pepsodent toothpaste.
The Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, Ziobeietan Yeo made this announcement during a ceremony to mark World Oral Health day which is observed on March 20 every year. This year’s commemoration is on the theme, ‘Say Ahh, Think Mouth, Think Health’.
It is estimated that 60% of children of School going age absent themselves due to tooth related problems while 100 percent of adults suffer from various tooth diseases, making it the most widespread chronic illness globally. In Ghana, it is estimated that tooth decay affects nine out of ten children. The common tooth related ailments include plaque, decayed teeth, missing teeth, stained teeth and bad breath.
According to the Unilever Ghana Boss, a research has proven that brushing one’s teeth twice daily reduces by half, the occurrence of tooth cavities. “At Unilever, we know, after intensive researches done in association with Dental Association that the simple act of brushing 2 times a day, with fluoride toothpaste like Pepsodent reduces by 50% tooth cavities. And it is a promise, we will continue our efforts”, he said.
Globally, the company intends educating 1 billion people by the 2020 timeline, with a call on other multinationals to “join Unilever in this cause, because together, we are stronger, together we can achieve more, and together we can achieve Ghana free of tooth decay.”
Scrap Taxes on Imported Dental Equipment
Presently in Ghana, the dentist to population ratio is 1:150,000, making it one of the worse on the continent. President of the Ghana Dental Association, Dr. Asante Appiah says, this poor ratio has to do with government’s inability to absorb trained dentists from the two Dental schools in the country. Again, he attributed this to the levies and taxes on the importation of dental equipment and materials which he said is making it expensive for dentists to go into private practice.
“We are pleading with the government to reduce the taxes like VAT on dental equipment, materials and consumables because at the moment, the government is not able to employ every dentist that qualifies from the two dental schools that we have. They also cannot go into private practice because it’s very expensive and there’s no finance”, he pleaded.
He however decried the low level of interest among Ghanaians when it comes to oral hygiene. He encouraged people to visit the dentist regularly to know the state of their oral health.
Uneven Distribution of Dental Facilities
On his part, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu in a speech read on his behalf during the ceremony, acknowledged that the current state of oral health care Service in the country is not the best. He mentioned that the “uneven distribution of dental clinics is of much concern to us. This is because most of the clinics are located in Accra and Kumasi and very few in the three regions of the North.”
He however announced that the ministry is collaborating with the University of Ghana Dental School and the Kintampo College of Health to train more dentists and dental assistants respectively.
He also touched on a pledge by government to provide a dental facilities in each district of the country in a bid to improve oral health.
75 Million Smiles
The 3,000 pupils who gathered at the Independence Square on Tuesday to mark the day participated in a mass brushing of teeth exercise and a 75 million smiles photo shoot. The 75 million represents the number of children that Unilever, through Pepsodent, has reached with the schools programs over the past 25 years.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Tawakalitu Braimah
