Oral diseases affect nearly half of the world’s population

According to WHO, 45% of the world’s population suffers from diseases of the oral cavity. Illustrative photo Bigstock

Decayed teeth, swollen gums and oral cancer: Almost half of the world’s population suffers from oral diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported last week. In a new report, the organization found that 45% of the world’s population, or about 3.5 billion people, suffer from oral disease.

“The oral aspect has long been neglected in global health,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, although inexpensive preventive measures could have prevented many of them.

The WHO, which thus provides the first complete picture of the burden of oral disease in 194 countries, has identified an increase of 1 billion cases reported over the past 30 years. According to the report, this is “clear evidence that many people do not have access to the prevention and treatment of oral diseases”, the most common of which are tooth decay, gum disease, tooth loss and oral cancer.

Untreated caries is the most common disease. It affects about 2.5 billion people worldwide, while about one billion suffer from gum disease, which is the leading cause of total tooth loss.

According to WHO, about 380,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year. The main risk factors are high sugar intake, as well as tobacco and alcohol use.

The WHO is calling on authorities to address these common risk factors by “promoting a balanced, low-sugar diet, cessation of tobacco use in all its forms, reduction of alcohol consumption and improved access to effective and affordable fluoridated toothpaste.”

financial burden

The report highlights the glaring disparity in access to oral health services, highlighting the enormous burden that these often highly visible and impossible to hide diseases place on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.

According to the report, three-quarters of all people with oral disease live in low- and middle-income countries, but globally, it is the poor, the disabled, or the elderly and vulnerable who are deprived of their health. to expensive care.

The WHO said this could lead to “catastrophic costs and a significant financial burden on families and communities.”

At the same time, dependence on highly specialized providers and high-tech equipment makes these services inaccessible to many, and the lack of information and prevention hinders timely action.

WHO has presented a long list of proposals on how to deal with this problem, including calling on countries to integrate oral health services into their primary health care systems.

Nina LARSON/AFP

Source: L Orient Le Jour

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