NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR ORAL HEALTH

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR ORAL HEALTH

In Dadra & Nagar Haveli, it is government predominantly which is providing health services through one District hospital viz.Shri Vinoba bhave Civil Hospital, 1 Community health centre,2 Primary Health centre, 3 Dispensaries and 50 Sub-Centres Spread over in area of 491 sq.km.Shri Vinoba bhave civil Hospital is the only Institution, which is presently serving to the entire community of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and the surrounding areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra with patient care. According to the world report-2003, oral diseases qualify as major public health problem going to their high prevalence and incidence in all regions of the world. The prevalence of oral diseases is very high to the tune of 90% at the age above 35 years.Dental Caries and periodontal diseases are the two most prevalent dental diseases of Indian population. Lack of awareness about these diseases has further contributed towards increase in the prevelance and severity of the problems.The greatest burden of oral diseases is on disadvantaged and socially marginalized population. Therefore to bridge the gap for oral health Government of India envisaged the National oral health program for an affordable, accessible and equitable oral health care delivery in a well co-ordinate manner.

RATIONALE FOR A NATIONAL ORAL HEALTH PROGRAM

Oral diseases are public health problem and have a great impact on systemic health. Poor and health can cause poor aesthetics, affects mastication adversely, causes agonizing pain and can lead to loss of productivity due to loss of man-hours. As per the recent data from Dental council of India, there are 1, 52,679 registered dentist for the population of about 121 million. The distribution of dental surgeons in different geographical location is not uniform leading to a paradoxical situation pertaining to the urban rural population i.e. 72% population remains in rural areas of India where as 70% of dentists render services in the urban areas. Provision of oral health care services through primary health care delivery has not yet been achieved uniformly across the country despite; many progressive states have made effort for oral health care delivery forms their own budget or NHM flexi pool.