Abstract
Advocacy for oral health promotion, prevention and treatment of oral diseases is founded on a comprehensive oral health policy that is integrated into the South African National Health Policy. The policy is intended to be a roadmap in the pursuit of achieving optimum oral health for the South African population. To review the National Oral Health Policy of SA (NOHPSA) in terms of context, strengths, weaknesses, implementation and monitoring regarding the oral health status of the SouthAfrican population.Results Promotive and preventive services lack detail on activities to achieve goals. The objectives, although very well defined, cannot be measured and there is no way of knowing whether they have been achieved. It was evident that the policy needs to be reviewed and updated in accordance to recent survey data, population growth and the profile (number and types) of health service providers. The prospect of updating the policy relies on the availability of current epidemiological surveys, which are not available, the most recent survey was conducted in 2002. The policy lacks a monitoring and evaluation plan. This is critical not only for the assessment of actualisation of aims and objectives, but for the sustainability of intended interventions.
Highlights
Advocacy for oral health promotion, prevention and treatment of oral diseases is founded on a comprehensive oral health policy that is integrated into the South African National Health Policy
It was evident that the policy needs to be reviewed and updated in accordance to recent survey data, population growth and the profile of health service providers
Studies have shown that countries without any clear oral health policy, like Russia, tend to have a higher prevalence of oral disease in comparison to other countries with similar socio economic standings.[1]
Summary
Advocacy for oral health promotion, prevention and treatment of oral diseases is founded on a comprehensive oral health policy that is integrated into the South African National Health Policy. Like other health policies, are essential in any country as they provide direction as to where the current health status is, where they want to move it toward and the resources that will be required to get to their desired destination. Studies have shown that countries without any clear oral health policy, like Russia, tend to have a higher prevalence of oral disease in comparison to other countries with similar socio economic standings.[1] This could be attributed to the fact that if there is a need to improve the health of any nation, there must be clear goals, a clear direction and a destination with time lines to ensure that all stakeholders, NGOs, and funding agencies can monitor the progress of the countries health at any given time.[2]
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