44 per cent Nigerians have decayed teeth -Minister

The Minister ofHealth, ProfessorOnyebuchi Chukwu, has described the oral health situation in Nigeria as unimaginable, disclosing that 44 per cent of Nigerians have decayed teeth.He disclosed this in Lagos, on Tuesday, at the launch of the second phase of 'Live, Learn and Laugh,' an initiative of Unilever Plc designed to raise awareness on the oral health problem in the country.Towards this end, the minister disclosed that arrangements had been concluded to launch a national oral health policy, which would help to create awareness on the importance of oral health to the overall health of the citizens of the country.'Very soon, the national oral health policy will be launched. It's just a matter of days. In fact, we are trying to fix a date that would be convenient for the Federal Ministry of Health, key stakeholders and our international partners. It has got the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and it is based on integrating oral health programme into the national health programme,' he explainedChukwu, who was represented by Dr Bimpe Adebiyi, Chief Dental Surgeon of the the ministry, decried the low level of awareness of oral health in Nigeria.According to her, the objective of the oral health policy was to raise oral health awareness among 70 per cent of the population, adding that it would also help medical professionals to know their boundaries as far as treatment of patients were concerned.While emphasising the importance of oral health to individuals, he listed diseases associated with the teeth to include hypertension, diabetes and stroke.
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