Oral health in the African region: progress and perspectives of the regional strategy
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: According to The World Oral Health Report 2003, oral diseases remain a major public health problem worldwide. However, oral health is seen as a very low priority in the African Region, where extreme poverty means that the limited resources available to the health sector are directed towards life-threatening conditions such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The mission of the Oral Health Programme at the Regional Office of WHO for Africa is to assist Member States to achieve those goals by means of a Regional Strategy. In fact in September 1998, the WHO Regional Committee for Africa adopted a ten year (1999-2008) Oral Health Plan for the African Region (AFR/RC48/9) with the aim of fundamentally improving community oral health. Its cornerstone is provision of the technical and managerial resources to efficiently and effectively deliver affordable intervention that matches the oral health needs of the community. Data Sources: This review presents major achievements made since the WHO Regional Strategy was launched in 1998 and priority actions which should be taken to further implement the Regional Strategy. Conclusions: WHO/AFRO recommends more commitment at country level to improve oral health and to reinforce partnerships in order to mobilize and coordinate the human, financial, material and institutional resources needed to implement, monitor and evaluate the Regional Strategy.Key words: Oral health, Africa, World health, Strategy, Epidemiology
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Noma affects 20 per 100,000 children aged 3-6 annually in sub-Saharan Africa, with many cases going undiagnosed or unreported.
“Noma affects 20 per 100,000 children aged 3–6 annually in sub-Saharan Africa, with many cases going undiagnosed or unreported (15, 24).”
From Oral health in Africa: a neglected public health priority (2026) · cites this paper as [15]
The 'Oral health status of people in Africa' section gives an annual noma incidence of 20 per 100,000 and says children aged 3–6 in sub-Saharan Africa are predominantly affected. It does not specify that the rate is per 100,000 children aged 3–6, or say that many cases go undiagnosed or unreported; its broader observation that reliable oral-health data are scarce does not establish either point. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPopulations in rural and underserved areas of Africa are particularly vulnerable, with higher rates of untreated oral conditions and poorer access to preventive or restorative care.
“Populations in rural and underserved areas are particularly vulnerable, with higher rates of untreated oral conditions and poorer access to preventive or restorative care (15).”
From Oral health in Africa: a neglected public health priority (2026) · cites this paper as [15]
The ‘Strategic orientations’ section calls for better access to oral health services particularly for rural, periurban and underserved communities; ‘Current status of oral health care systems’ says dentists are concentrated in urban settings. ‘Oral health status of people in Africa’ reports that much dental caries is untreated, but does not establish that rural or underserved populations have higher rates of untreated conditions than others. Page numbers were not provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Cites
Oral diseases and socio-economic status (SES)
HOBDELL, M. H., de Oliveira, É. R., Bautista, R., Myburgh, N. G., Lalloo, R., Narendran, S., & Johnson, N. W. (2003) · BDJ · doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4809882 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Berthold, P. (2003) · Dental Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/s0011-8532(03)00020-x · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Ndiaye, C. F., Critchlow, C. W., Leggott, P. J., Kiviat, N. B., Ndoye, I., Robertson, P. B., & Georgas, K. N. (1997) · Journal of Periodontology · doi:10.1902/jop.1997.68.9.827 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [5]5. Odenise Baratti-Mayer et al. Noma: an infectious disease of unknown aetiology THE LANCET Infectious Disease Vol 3 July 2003. Volume 2 Numbers 1&2, 2005:2-9 Http://www.ajoh.org ©African Journal of Oral Health 9
- [6]6. Sheiham A.,Watt RG The common risk factor approach: a rational basis for promoting oral health Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2000; 28:399-406.
Cited by
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Prevalence and Severity of Oral Diseases in the Africa and Middle East Region
Abid, A., Maatouk, F., Berrezouga, L., Azodo, C., Uti, O., El-Shamy, H., & Oginni, A. (2015) · Advances in Dental Research · doi:10.1177/0022034515582062 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Etiaba, E., Uguru, N., Ebenso, B., Russo, G., Ezumah, N., Uzochukwu, B., & Onwujekwe, O. (2015) · BMC Oral Health · doi:10.1186/s12903-015-0040-8 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Oral health in Africa: a neglected public health priority
Nwabunka, M., Sowunmi, A. O., Osadolor, U. E., Akinyosoye, A. D., Nnyanzi, L., Adeloye, D., & Zohoori, V. (2026) · Frontiers in Oral Health · doi:10.3389/froh.2026.1754189 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ndiaye, C.
- Affiliations
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (CG)
- Corresponding author
- Ndiaye, C
- Venue
- African Journal of Oral Health
- Publisher
- www.ajol.info
- Published
- 2010-07-26
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1-2
- ISSN
- 0189-5710 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1986907538
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- African Journal of Oral Health (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Dental Health and Care Utilization
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral Health Pathology and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › HIV/AIDS oral health manifestations
- Keywords
- oral health, community oral health, oral diseases, health policy implementation, partnership, resource mobilization, oral health epidemiology, Africa
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