Dental Asia March/April 2024

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
The report, ‘Vision 2030: Delivering Optimal
Oral Health for All’, was first published in 2021
and identifies challenges that will confront
dentistry and the oral health community over
the next decade. By turning these challenges
into opportunities, it proposes strategies to
to improve oral health, reduce oral health
inequalities, and contribute to reducing the
global burden of oral diseases.
“The challenges that the dental professions
must be aware of are outlined in FDI’s Vision
2030 report and are intricately tied to the three
fundamental pillars of this report that present
opportunities for enhancing oral health,”
Dr Chadwick said.
Under its ambit, the report is constructed
around three pillars, each with a major goal
to be achieved by 2030. These pillars are
supported by a strategy for education that will
create a responsive and resilient profession,
with the knowledge and skills to lead systems
reforms.
Pillar one aims for essential oral health
services to be integrated into healthcare in
every country and appropriate quality oral
healthcare to become available, accessible,
and affordable for all; pillar two seeks the
integration of oral and general personcentred
healthcare, leading to more effective
prevention and management of oral diseases
and improved health and well-being; pillar
three envisions oral health professionals
collaborating with a wide range of health
workers to deliver sustainable, health-needsbased,
and people-centred healthcare.
For instance, outlined under pillar two of the
report, the federation’s General Assembly
approved the FDI ‘Position on Free Sugars’,
aimed at addressing the pressing public health
crisis of excessive sugar consumption at
the 2023 World Dental Congress in Sydney,
Australia.
Following the endorsement of the Position
on Free Sugars, FDI is actively increasing its
efforts to tackle the challenge through its
advocacy, capacity building and knowledge
sharing, in collaboration with important
stakeholders, including other health
organisations.
“Additionally, we aim to strengthen
collaborations with various health
organisations, leveraging our membership in
the World Health Professions Alliance, and
seeking support from industry partners for our
public health initiatives,” said Dr Chadwick.
Dr Chadwick added: “Of course, none of this
would be possible without the support of our
member national dental associations, and
therefore we will continue to keep their interest
at the heart of our efforts to improve global
oral health.”
Moreover, the recently adopted ‘FDI strategic
plan 2024-2027’ is another important focus Dr
Chadwick is directed towards executing. The
new organisational plan for 2024-2027 forms
a strategic framework formed upon three
pillars — advocacy, knowledge exchange, and
innovation.
The advocacy pillars is seen as a mean to
drive the implementation of FDI's Vision 2030.
It mobilises advocacy efforts to increase
oral health literacy and achieve political
commitment and action on oral health for all.
The knowledge exchange pillar which was
revised from a previously titled ‘knowledge
transfer’ pillar, builds a robust community
of skilled, engaged, and informed dental
professionals and partners.
A newly added innovation pillar
positions the oral health community
to ensure the dental profession
is responsible, sustainable, and
responsive to emerging and evolving
technologies in dentistry.
“The oral healthcare landscape is
rapidly changing and ever evolving, so
it is our duty to ensure that we keep up
to speed with the changes and that we
do so in a balanced and sustainable
manner,” explained Dr Chadick. “We
are paying, of course, close attention
to digitalisation, the development of AI
and sustainability in dentistry, as seen
in FDI’s initiatives.”
At the 154th WHO Executive Board meeting, FDI and the International Association for Dental, Oral, And
Craniofacial Research (IADR) expressed its concern in a joint statement regarding global oral health
targets
PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES
As the main driver of its work at
FDI, Vision 2030 is at the heart of its
advocacy efforts. The developments in
the global oral health landscape with
the approval and formal adoption of
the World Health Organization (WHO)
16 DENTAL ASIA MARCH / APRIL 2024