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Gov’t Must Engage Stakeholders To Bridge Rural-Urban Dental Care Gap—Smile Ghana

Health Govt Must Engage Stakeholders To Bridge Rural-Urban Dental Care Gap—Smile Ghana
MAY 27, 2019 LISTEN

A group of dental specialists from the United Kingdom, founders of a charity organisation Smile Ghana are advocating for deeper engagement and collaborations between government and stakeholders in the health sectors on bridging the widening gap in dental care between urban and rural communities.

The move according to the dental specialist will ensure that Ghanaians in rural areas are especially enlightened on the significance of proper dental care and avoid seeking the services of “quack doctors” in the sector.

Members of Smile Ghana are Dr. George, Mrs. Phil Brown, Dr. Malcom, Mrs. Cynthia Farr, Dr. Chris and Mrs. Pat Vondee.

Proposing several measures, one of which is the formation of dental clubs in schools, Dr. George Brown, a Ghanaian Dental Surgeon based in the UK said the move will largely improve oral and dental hygiene amongst school children.

Dr. Brown made the call during a weeklong dental outreach program in some communities in the Volta Region. He lamented that an absence of education and regular checkups are leading to high number of dental issues which were otherwise avoidable.

The outreach program in collaboration with Jonmoore International Limited will seek to benefit over a thousand (1,000) residents in the Volta Region. This year’s outreach will cover Peki Blengo, Adaklu Hasu and Adidome.

Another member of the team, Dr. Chris Vondee advised residents to seek proper dental care and avoid the services of “quack doctors”.

He cautioned residents against administering herbal products for the treatment of dental issues such as gum diseases as most of these products also claimed to cure piles have no correlation.

Dr. Vondee lamented that the problem would be persistent so long as there is an absence of dental practitioners in the rural areas of the country, a situation he indicated was leading to the over-reliance on “quack doctors” by residents. He consequently admonished residents against soliciting the services of such persons but rather seek professional care.

Dr Malcolm Farr urged Ghanaians to stick to the usage of the traditionally accepted chewing sticks as an alternative whenever the modern and widely accepted ways of dental care are lacking.

Smile Ghana’s partnership with Jonmoore International Limited, a transport and project logistics company in Ghana with services extending within the West African sub-region was also complemented with collaborations with the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho and the Ghana Health Services.

Miss Amma Abrokwah, the Corporate Manager of Jonmoore International Limited, indicated that the company’s commitment to delivering its corporate social responsibility cannot be overemphasized as it continues to focus on improving the socio-economic development of Ghanaians across the various sectors in the country.

Miss Abrokwah indicated that Jonmoore will continue its partnership with other benevolent organizations such as Smile Ghana in order to improve the well-being of Ghanaians.

The outreach program aimed at providing free dental screening and care to 3 communities in the Volta Region notably Peki Blengo in the South Dayi district, Adaklu Hasu in the Adaklu district and Adidome in the Central Tongu district.

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