JEDDAH, 21 September 2006 — The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education launched a national oral care preventive program in schools yesterday.
More than 130 ministry officials participated in a national seminar in Jeddah to kick-start the campaign for in-school training and oral care awareness, organized by industry specialists.
The organizers aim to reach over 250,000 first graders of both genders in 42 education regions across the Kingdom during the current academic year.
“The emphasis of the campaign is to educate children and institutionalize the concept of self-care and regular oral hygiene practice,” said Dr. Adel A. Al-Rusayes of dental public health at the Education Ministry Directorate General of School Health.
“The Kingdom acknowledged over three years ago the prevalence of dental caries in children. By aligning ourselves with our partners, the MOE, Crest and Oral-B, we successfully launched our caries prevention program in schools and extended it throughout the Kingdom,” said Dr. Mohammad Alrafie, director of dentistry, MOH.
Dr. Al-Rusayes, program supervisor at Male School Health Education Directorate, MOE, said the program was a great success as it centered upon in-school education of oral hygiene. “We strongly believe that children are receptive to learn new habits at school and listen to their teachers’ advice,” he added.
Dr. Abdullah Alorf of the Female School Health Education Directorate, MOE, said: “This partnership has brought forth a very inspiring initiative whose success thus far is astounding. We’re further excited about year three of the program which promises to be even bigger with additional reach and greater results.”
“As we move into year three of this long-term campaign, we’re committed to providing even greater support to 10,000 teachers we plan to train, with materials that will teach and guide children to learn and adopt brushing habits,” said Turki Binmoammar, public affairs and community relations manager at Modern Products Company that is collaborating with the program.
