Dental education in the developing countries and the role of WHO

The present picture of Dental Manpower in the world is reviewed. The Dentist/Population ratio in 1972 in each of the WHO regions was as follows: African Region 1:96,391, American Region 1:2892, Eastern Mediterranean Region 1:26,188, European Region 1:2948, South East Asia Region 1:81,606, Western Pacific Region 1:4533. There was wide variation of this ratio between individual countries within each region. The present approach to the dental education of all types of dental personnel in the developing countries is described. The activity of WHO in organizing seminars and conference on the needs of the regions in relation to types of dental personnel and their training is discussed. Attention is drawn to the strong recommendation of WHO to plan the dental health manpower training in close conformity with a country's Oral Health needs. The importance of integration of the training programmes for the various categories of dental personnel is stressed.