Luanda – The secretary of State for Public Health, Carlos Pinto de Sousa, on Monday in Luanda reaffirmed the compromise to increase the number of oral health technicians, coupled with their adequate distribution in the various centres.
The Angolan Order of Physicians controls just over 1,100 dentists countrywide.
The secretary of State for Public Health, who was speaking at the World Oral Health Day commemoration act, marked on 20th March, said that the shortcomings in this specialty area in the country cause many of the oral problem cases to remain untreated, so the authorities are coming up with more efficient measures.
The efforts, he explained, are geared towards the structuring of a basic programme of oral health, with a view to integrating oral health care into primary health care.
Mr Sousa went on to inform that the 2012-2025 National Health Development Plan comprises actions such as the equipping and placing of specialists in the primary, secondary and tertiary care networks, as well as the unveiling of one dental prosthesis centre in every province, plus steeping up awareness campaigns in the communities on oral hygiene and nutrition.
To the secretary of State, a good oral health contributes significantly to a general good condition, well-being and quality of life.
Deficient oral health, he said, causes millions of people to have extreme pains, thus increasing the financial weight on society and affecting severely the quality of life of the population.
In view of this, he disclosed, in 2016 the states approved the 2016-2025 Regional Oral Health Strategy.
Oral health problems are among the most common non-transmissible and preventable diseases in the world.
