The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) will restructure and expand the current school oral health programme, it was announced yesterday.
“The current school oral health programme was established in 1988. It is not sufficient to attend to the growing needs of oral health of children. So we are restructuring and expanding the programme,” said Dr Asmaa AlKhti, manager, Oral Health Division, PHCC on the sidelines of the Scientific Research Day organised by PHCC.
PHCC will launch a pilot project of the new programme in February next year. “At present the programme is health centre based. We are taking it to schools focusing on the concept of prevention. Prevention activities for oral health will be taken to the schools along with screenings, and the treatment will be provided at health centres,” explained Dr AlKhti.
“Cavities are the main problem among children. It s a major problem and number one disease in children in Qatar and the world. It is five times more than asthma and diabetes or any other diseases among children,” she pointed out.
“If the present programme is for children between grade one and four, the new one will target entire primary school from kindergarten to grade six, in phase one, after implementing the pilot programme. Evaluating it in future, we hope to implement it to all students up to18 years,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Second Scientific Research Conference organised by PHCC started at Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday. The two-day event aims at highlighting the role of primary care research in strengthening the health system, promoting family care and preventing chronic disease.
Dr Hanan al-Mujalli, executive director, Clinical Affairs, PHCC, said the forum provides a platform to share best practice and identify potential collaborators to work together for better health outcomes.
With several sessions, presentations and workshops, the conference offers a leading, knowledge sharing platform on primary health policies and how they are set up to meet the population’s expectations.
Yesterday the conference heard from international and local healthcare research scientists on several topics such as childhood and adolescent health with a focus on addressing obesity and others.
The conference also examined the need for research that underpins primary care’s search for effective preventive strategies and interventions that improve population well-being and health, particularly in non-communicable disease prevention.


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