MoPH launches oral care awareness campaign

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has launched a campaign for raising awareness about the importance of oral and dental care in co-operation with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC).

The campaign targets all segments of society such as children, adolescents, adults and pregnant women to guide them follow a healthy and balanced diet.

MoPH also encourages all members of society to adopt healthy lifestyles from earlier age and reduce the spread of dental caries, in addition to change wrong behaviours towards oral and dental healthcare. The launch of the campaign comes within the framework of the celebration of the World Oral Health Day observed annually on March 20, under the theme 'A happy mouth is a happy body.', in addition to the GCC Oral Health Unified Week from March 25-31.

Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention Programme at MoPH, said that the ministry is keen to implement a number of programmes and courses at preventing oral diseases. He pointed to the launch of health care programme for the elderly last year, which targeted the medical staff concerned with the care of the elderly. He stated that MoPH will continue to implement such programmes.

Dr Wafaa al-Mulla, oral and dental health specialist, MoPH, said that through the campaign, educational awareness publications will be published via all social media accounts of the ministry and other health sector partners. Dr al-Mulla added that the ministry began implementing the national oral and dental health survey for young students aged 12-16 from February.

The survey aims to determine the level and quality of oral health information and its sources among parents of children and participating students, as well as to determine the level of tooth decay among school students in Qatar. Moreover, the survey will show the relationship between the level of oral health information and health practices, including dietary habits.