For example, dentists per 10,000 population in the region equates to one-tenth of the global ratio. We have also faced a chronic lack of an oral health workforce. More than 70% of our countries spent less than US$ 1 per person per year on treatment costs for oral health care in 2019. Half of our countries do not have oral health policies. However, there is fundamental under-investment in oral health. Noma is primarily found in Sub-Saharan Africa and is a marker of extreme poverty.īased on the regional summary of the WHO Global Oral Health Status Report in 2022 among WHO’s six regions, our region has experienced the largest increase in the number of major oral disease cases in the previous 30 years.

If left untreated, it is fatal in 90% of cases.

For example, noma, a disease, destroys the mouths and faces of mostly young children. The burden of oral diseases has high social, economic, and health systems consequences and reflects significant inequalities.

In 2019, oral diseases affected around 43.7 % of the population in the WHO African Region. It enables us to perform essential functions and impacts our self-confidence, well-being, and ability to socialize and work without pain, discomfort, and embarrassment from early life to old age. Yet oral diseases, such as dental caries, gum diseases, and tooth loss, are the most widespread globally and regionally when most oral diseases are preventable. Oral health is the foundation of our life.

Integrate function over region x y z