Mayor of London outlines his oral health ambitions
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 09 October 2018 07:44
- Written by News Editor
- Hits: 3217
London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has made commitments on oral health in the new London Health Inequalities Strategy. The document outlines ambitions to see partners take further action on improving child oral health, including access to dental care, particularly targeted on those communities least likely to be attend a dentist.
The London Mayor has pledged to improve children’s oral health in the capital with the London Health Inequalities Strategy.The plan sets out the Mayor’s aims and objectives for addressing health inequalities in London. In the strategy Sadiq Khan calls on the NHS, local authorities and Public Health England to improve access to dental care.
The strategy focuses on five areas:
- Healthy children
- Healthy minds
- Healthy places
- Healthy communities
- Healthy living.
In particular for dentistry, Sadiq Khan focuses on groups and communities who currently experience access issues and poor oral health.
The British Dental Association has welcomed these commitments. Dentists across London are already engaged in a range of initiatives to address oral health inequalities in their own areas, and are ready to do more. The BDA has expressed its determination to work with the Mayor, the dental profession and other partners to support and facilitate the aims set out in the strategy.
The BDA’s Health and Science chair Russ Ladwa said: "We’ve made our case to City Hall and welcome the aspirations set out in the Mayor of London’s Inequalities Strategy. Tooth decay is a wholly preventable disease, and there is no reason why it remains the number one reason a child in this city will be admitted to hospital.
"Today a baby born in Harrow is three times more likely to have tooth decay when they enter primary school as one born in Bexley, and we will not see progress until the capital’s oral health gap is closed.
"Families across London deserve better when it comes to access, education, and prevention. It is now vital that the Mayor uses his influence to ensure these ambitions are joined with action."
Oral Health a Quality of Life issue, especially for children!!!
It is great that finally people in positions of power, are begining to recognise Oral Health's important role in both reducing misery and costs to the nation, as well as being influential in people's future progress through life, positively in actual achievement, as well as psychological happiness when looking at Quality of Life overall.We need to spread this knowledge/appreciation widely, so that others can be motivated to act upon it, for the greater societal good.
This is very welcome news indeed AND an example to others who may not have otherwise even considered Oral Health being SO important to the Quality of Life of society and it's future, overall.
Yours also Holistically,
Tony.
You need to be logged in to leave comments.
Report