Damaged teeth, swollen gums and oral cancer: Nearly half of the world’s population suffers from oral diseases, the World Health Organization announced Thursday.
In a new report, WHO has found that 45% of the world’s population, or about 3.5 billion people, suffer from oral diseases.
“Oral health has long been neglected in global health,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, though low-cost prevention measures could prevent many of them. .
High consumption of sugar, tobacco and alcohol.
The WHO, which thus offers the first complete picture of the burden of oral diseases in 194 countries, has revealed an increase of 1,000 million cases registered in the last 30 years.
It is “a clear indication that many people do not have access to the prevention and treatment of oral diseases,” with the most common being cavities, gum disease, tooth loss and oral cancer, according to the report. .
Untreated dental caries is the most common disease. It affects about 2.5 billion people worldwide, while around 1 billion suffer from gum disease, which is one of the leading causes of total tooth loss. And each year about 380,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed, according to the WHO.
The main risk factors are high sugar consumption, but also smoking and alcohol consumption. The WHO encourages authorities to address these common risk factors “by promoting a balanced diet low in sugars, curbing tobacco use in all its forms, reducing alcohol consumption and improving access to effective and affordable fluoride toothpastes.”
The problem of access to care
The report highlights gross inequalities in access to oral health services, highlighting the enormous burden that these often highly visible and impossible to hide diseases place on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.
According to the report, three-quarters of all people with oral diseases live in low- and middle-income countries, but around the world it is the poor, the disabled or the elderly and vulnerable who are deprived of adequate access to Health. to expensive care.
This can lead to “catastrophic costs and a significant financial burden for families and communities,” the WHO said.
At the same time, the dependence on highly specialized providers and high-tech equipment makes these services inaccessible to many, while the lack of information and prophylaxis make it impossible to act in time.
The WHO has put forward a long list of proposals on how to tackle the problem, including a call for countries to include oral health services in their primary health care systems.
Source: BFM TV
