Leading toothpaste brand, Pepsodent in
partnership with the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) has revealed
plans to help millions of Nigerian families adopt the best oral
health practices as it officially announced the kick off of its World
Oral Health Day (WOHD) celebration on Monday March 6, 2017 in
Lagos.
World Oral Health Day is set aside
globally to celebrate the benefits and impact of having good oral
hygiene. This year’s announcement continues
after Pepsodent Nigeria emerged first globally in the World Oral
Health Day 2016 challenge ahead of 31 countries.
“We are proud of our partnership
Unilever Nig. Plc, who have made the success of the previous World
Oral Health celebrations possible with their immense support towards
oral health in Nigeria,” said Dr. Bode Ijarogbe president of the
Nigerian Dental Association while speaking about the continuous
partnership between Unilever and the National Dental Association.
“It is imperative to prevent oral diseases in Nigeria by ensuring
people brush twice a day, every day. In addition to the fact that
many people cannot afford dental care, statistics also shows that
there are only about 4,125 registered dentists i.e. about 40,000
people to 1 dentist.”
Oral diseases being the most common
diseases worldwide despite the fact many of them are easily
preventable through brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
Pepsodent is set to help Nigerians
eradicate oral diseases with lined-up dental activities including,
school programmes across, health walk, community outreach, market
activations and several other activities that will educate Nigerians
on the many benefits and importance of brushing twice daily.
Speaking to the statistics that shows
that 59% of Nigerians do not brush day and night, Nigeria Oral Care
Category Lead- Ibironke Ugbaja Unilever Nigeria plc, said: “We have
through our efforts in the past seen the transformative impact that
brushing twice daily has on the oral health of Nigerians.”
“Our goal at Pepsodent is to continue
driving improved oral care practices for a cavity free smile Nigeria.
We are also aware that healthy dental habits start in childhood,
which is why it’s vital that the Pepsodent Brush Day and Night
campaign reaches more children than ever before. We have reached over
2.5 million children in about 3,500 schools since the inception of
the programme. Our goal is to reach 10 million children by 2020.”
The Corporate Affairs Director for
Unilever Soramidayo George also stated that recent research shows
that establishing the twice a day brushing habit in children has
benefits into adulthood. She said, “the effects of practicing good
oral health from young have lasting effects. Nearly 20 years later,
these children have experienced almost 20% fewer dental treatments
than their peers, proving that these interventions make an impact for
life.”
The Federal Ministry of Health,
represented by Dr. Mrs. Bola Alonge Head of Dentistry also mentioned
the fact that Unilever signed an exclusive MOU with the Federal
Ministry of Health to sustain the momentum of the Unilever Oral
health school’s programme initiative. Dr. Mrs. Bola Alonge
commended the initiative, “less than 20% of Nigerians have access
to oral care services which focuses on the curative care. Many oral
health diseases can easily be prevented through simply brushing twice
a day. This is why the Federal Ministry of Health and Unilever have
taken on the task to teach children to brush day and night. Children
are the change agent of the nation and hence we need to catch them
young.”
It was disclosed at this year’s World
Oral Health Day celebration presents another opportunity for
Pepsodent to drive the point home to Nigerians concerning its message
of adopting good oral practices. The media parley ended with a Smiles
Pledge by pupils in attendance.
The World Oral Health Day is set to
hold on Monday March 20, 2017 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
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