WOHD14 celebrated with great fanfare and awareness campaigns throughout Pakistan

 The World Oral health Day was formally inaugurated by Dr. Saqib Rashid the President Pakistan Dental Association with Dr Arif Alvi as the chief guest on the occasion. The event sponsored by Shield Corporation and organized by Dental News Pakistan with the support of Pakistan Dental Association for the awareness of the masses was held simultaneously in 34 institutions and 12 cities across Pakistan.

The holding of World Oral Health Day is the initiative of the World Dental Federation – FDI throughout the World. In Pakistan Dental News Pakistan has been organizing the event for the last 3 years and WOHD14 was the fourth successful and the largest of all the previous events. This year’s event was very actively supported by Pakistan Dental Association.

The event was launched through a Press conference on the 19th followed by information kiosks in 34 institutions across Pakistan. In addition to this a funfair was organized by Shield Corporation exclusively for the school children in Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Faisalabad.

The World Oral Health Day on 20th March 2014, was celebrated with great fan-fare and a broader outreach. A mass awareness campaign and insightful events were conducted in all major cities and towns of Pakistan. Special ceremonies were held in important cities like; Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Mirpur Khas, Abbotabad, Hyderabad, Sialkot, etc.

The participating institutions included

Karachi (12)

Karachi Medical & Dental College
Fatima Jinnah Dental College
Hamdard College of Medicine & Dentistry
Liaquat College of Medicine & Dentistry
Jinnah Medical & Dental College
Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences
Baqai Dental College
Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine
Ziauddin College of Dentistry
Bahria University Medical & Dental College
Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences
Dow International Dental College

HYDERABAD (2)
Liquat University of Medical & Health Sciences
Isra University

MIRPUKHAS (1)
Bhittai Medical & Dental College & Hospital

LAHORE (6)
Lahore Medical & Dental College
FMH Medical & Dental College
de’montmorency College of Dentistry Dental
The University Lahore
CMH Lahore Medical College
Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute

MULTAN (2)
Nishter Medical and Dental College
Multan Medical & Dental College

PESHAWAR (2)
Khyber College of Dentistry
Sardar Begum Dental College

QUETTA (1)
Bolan Medical College

ABBOTTABAD (1)
Ayub Medical And Dental College

FAISALABAD (1)
University of Faisalabad

SIALKOT(1)
Islam Medical & Dental College

Similar to the previous years’ activities and deliberations, this year’s activities also solicited nationwide support from the dental profession. The importance of Oral Health was vividly highlighted through this observance of the annual “World Oral Health Day 2014. Salient features of the event also involved distribution of informative literature, free-gifts, tooth brushes, activity books and other promotional materials at hospitals, schools, and other relevant institutions throughout the country.

Every year, the proactive dental practitioners and academic institutions also join in to play their role in eradicating the oral diseases and compliment these efforts by raising awareness through their Out-Patient Departments and institutional networks, to make the common man recognize that oral health is a vital part of the overall wellbeing and vitality of the citizens. The dental trade enterprises also join in to celebrate and demonstrate the progress made in the science and healing-capacity of Oral health procedures and dental practices. The dental community thus remains committed to continuously work towards the provision of better oral health and hygiene for all, old and young.

Since dental OPD’s at hospitals provide a perfect setting and place to disseminate Oral health awareness information among patients, Dental News Pakistan had sought the support of numerous resourceful hospitals to promote the FDI guidelines on oral health. Several healthcare institutions also provided free OPD sessions and informative seminars on 20th March, enriched by sponsorship from Shield Corporation. The highlights of this programme were; setting up of “Free Oral Health Camps” across Pakistan to provide free dental check-ups to over 10,000 patients and knowledge-sharing about oral care methods through publications, outdoor hoardings and electronic media campaigns, reaching out to millions of people.

Volunteering dentists and dental students also provided tips and suggestions to the common people for choosing the right kind of tooth brush and tooth pastes, besides teaching good brushing techniques and advising treatments for oral disease to the common people. The event was highlighted at the highest forums to make it an integral part of the extensive global efforts for widening oral health awareness through global celebrations held to mark the World Oral Health Day.

This year, for the fourth year in a row, the World Oral Health Day activities in Pakistan were sponsored by “Shield Corporation” – the leading manufacturers of quality tooth brushes, tooth pastes and other oral healthcare products.