National Oral Health Programme

India has a high prevalence of oro-dental disease and it is well established that oral diseases are a public health problem and have a great impact on systemic health. Poor oral health can cause poor aesthetics, affects mastication adversely, cause agonizing pain and can lead to loss of productivity due to loss of man-hours.

National Oral Health Programme (NOHP) was launched during 2014 - 15 to strengthen the public health facilities of the country for an accessible, affordable & quality oral health care delivery.

Objectives

The objectives of NOHP are as under:

1. Improvement in the determinants of oral health e.g. healthy diet, oral hygiene improvement etc and to reduce disparity in oral health accessibility in rural & urban population.
2. Reduce morbidity from oral diseases by strengthening oral health services at Sub district/district hospital to start with.
3. Integrate oral health promotion and preventive services with general health care system and other sectors that influence oral health; namely various National Health Programs.
4. Promotion of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for achieving public health goals

Components

The program has two components as under:

1. National Health Mission Component: support is provided to States to set up Dental Care Units at D istrict H ospital s or below. Support is provided for the following components :
• Manpower support (Dentist, Dental Hygienist, Dental Assistant)
• Equipments including dental Chair
• Consumables for dental procedures
2. Tertiary Component: For central level activities such as:
• Designing IEC materials like Posters, TV, Radio Spots, Training Modules
• Organizing national, regional nodal officers training program to enhance the program management skills, review the status of the program
• Preparing State/District level Trainers by conducting national, regional workshops to train the paramedical health functionaries associated in health care delivery.

IVRS Oral health helpline

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare launched an IVRS Help line for Oral Health Programme on the occasion of World Oral Health Day on 20 March 2017. It can be accessed through a toll free number by any individual by dialling 1800-11-2032 .

The aim is to

• Provide information regarding common oral health concerns;
• Create awareness regarding the importance of oral health;
• Dispel common myths regarding oral diseases; ·
• Provide emergency instructions in case of common oral health diseases.