Coinciding with the 148th session of the World Health Organization Executive Board, where an oral health resolution is on the agenda for adoption by governments, FDI has released “Vision 2030: Delivering optimal oral health for all”, a timely report that offers a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary roadmap on how to impact health policies and tackle challenges to improve oral health and reduce oral health inequalities over the next decade.
Vision 2030 recommends strategies to address the oral disease burden that communities can adapt to their own needs and circumstances, enabling them to implement relevant solutions.
The report also considers how broad societal shifts, such as ageing populations, will require the oral health workforce to adapt and remain equipped to deliver consistent care.
“Vision 2030 outlines the ways in which we can integrate our profession within global development agendas, including the UN Sustainable Development goals and the implementation of universal health coverage, that determine important health priorities,” said Prof David Williams, co-chair, FDI Vision 2030 Working Group.
Prof Michael Glick, co-chair, FDI Vision 2030 Working Group, added, “How can we, as members of the oral health community, anticipate transformational changes and trends in the global healthcare environment? How do we seize opportunities to become productive members of healthcare teams delivering person-centred care? These are some of the broad questions we strive to answer through Vision 2030.”
Achieving optimal oral health for all requires strong advocates who are ready to tackle this major public health challenge. Through the steps laid out in Vision 2030, the oral health profession will be well-equipped to argue for the better integration of oral health within overall health, united behind a set of shared aims.
The authors of the Vision 2030 report, an expert team of professionals hailing from diverse sectors within the healthcare community, have emphasised the need to engage with the public, as well as a range of other stakeholders.
Vision 2030 calls for patients themselves to be well-informed advocates for their own oral health and be able to take an active role in their treatment decisions. From the patient to the profession, Vision 2030 drives the message home that there is no health without oral health.
