DUBAI, 25 October 2007 — Saudi Arabia has the lowest toothpaste per capita consumption, J. T. Bernard, executive director of the FDI World Dental Federation, said in an address to dental professionals and journalists at Dubai World Center yesterday during the launch of “Signal Social Mission” in the Middle East.
When asked why it is so in Saudi Arabia, he explained that “it is because of lack of education and we are going to introduce several campaigns focused on schools.”
He said “according to recent study endorsed by WHO, 50 percent of children in the UK leave school never having had a filling but when compared to Saudi Arabia where more than 90 percent of school leavers have a dental cavity, one can see the significant challenges faced in the region.”
In spite of the remarkable progress in the provision of dental care throughout the region, tooth decay is on the rise especially amongst children. The focus of Signal’s mission is on encouraging children to brush twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste.
“A strong focus is being placed on encouraging children to brush twice a day via night brushing campaign and schools oral health educational programs” he said.
“Among 12 year olds, 92 percent in Saudi Arabia have dental cavities, 80 percent in Abu Dhabi, 78 percent in Kuwait and 70 percent in Oman” he said.
Signal Social Mission announcement coincided with the launch of a new partnership program with the FDI World Dental Federation at their Annual World Dental Congress being held in Dubai.
“This unique partnership will help address these challenges by promoting oral health education,” Bernard added.
The partnership program, known as “Live. Learn. Laugh.” is in operation in 38 countries and will see Unilever, through its Signal brand, work with the FDI and national dental associations to implement schools programs to improve children’s oral health, encourage children to brush twice daily with a fluoridated toothpaste, and increase oral health education regionally.
The partnership program with the FDI will be launched in Saudi Arabia and is being implemented in association with the Saudi Dental Society. It will focus on first grade primary school children throughout the Kingdom, with each school receiving three visits from dental health workers. All children will be assessed and subsequent visits will involve treatment and oral hygiene instruction. Educational material will be distributed to the children, their parents, and teachers. In total, 200,000 persons will be targeted in 2008.
Signal dental program in Saudi Arabia began 16 years ago with the support of the Saudi Ministry of Health and Saudi Dental Society.
A certificate of inauguration for the Saudi Dental Society’s participation in the Live. Learn. Laugh. program was presented to Dr. Hassan Al-Halawany, council secretary of the Saudi Dental Society by Dr. Michèle Aerden, president of the FDI World Dental Federation, at the event yesterday.
“By 2010, our objective is to reach one million students across the Middle East through various community initiatives, working to improve oral health standards among Arab youth,” Zijderveld added.
“We have a long established history of encouraging positive oral health initiatives and launching our social mission together with this unique collaboration with the FDI shows our continuing commitment to promoting positive change,” said Unilever chairman for North Africa and the Middle East Jan Zijderveld.
“Unilever has a proven track record for this sort of innovative approach. One of many examples is the Lifebouy campaign in India to encourage hand washing with soap which has reached 180,000 villages, with a combined population of 70 million people,” he said.
In the UAE, for the second year in row, a campaign targeting 50 local schools is being conducted in Sharjah, while 40,000 samples with educational material are being distributed in Kuwait through the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, the four-day FDI Annual World Dental Congress 2007, the largest professional congress ever held in Dubai, started yesterday attracting a huge number of dental professionals.