Oral health promotion and health education programmes for Nigeria--policy guidelines

Nigeria like other developing countries is presently faced with the arduous problem of coping with scarce resources to control existing and increasing oral disease levels. The World Health Organization has emphasized the importance of oral health promotion for initiating successful, effective, preventive oral health programmes. At present however, Nigeria is without formal oral health promotion and health education policies or programmes. In the "National Policy and Strategy to Achieve Health for All Nigerians" (Federal Ministry of Health 1986), no specific mention was made of oral health promotion or oral health education. The present paper therefore proposes definitive policy guidelines that will help in the development of coherent oral health promotion programmes for the country. The approach proposed tackles causes common to a number of chronic diseases and incorporates oral health into general health strategies.