IFDH President's Report
December 2021
Establishing & Keeping IFDH at the Forefront of Ensuring the Viewpoint of the Dental Hygienist
Dear Colleagues;
Although we expected to be able to travel and represent IFDH during conferences, symposia and summits and meeting each other in person in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2021, due to the Covid-19 situation all meetings unfortunately were virtual again. Not being able to meet in person is definitely a disadvantage. But having a meeting online and broadcast worldwide, also means that many more people can be reached and enabled to attend meetings that otherwise might not have been possible.
Let me update you on how IFDH has been involved with other organizations.
During the ACFF (Alliance for a Cavity-free Future) Global Oral Health Conference, I represented IFDH with a lecture on “the burden of oral disease worldwide and the possible solutions: information, education and preventive oral health care.” I pleaded to include community health workers, nurses, midwives and school teachers, to promote oral health and include preventive measures in their daily work and health care programs. The talk was broadcasted live on October 13th.
During the meeting of the European Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe (November 15th) it was discussed how the Platform can implement and contribute to the WHO Global Strategy on Oral Health. IFDH contributed to the Platform’s comments on the WHO Discussion Paper (August 2021) with – again – the focus on preventive oral health care and how to include oral health into general health programs and inform and educate general health workers and school teachers.
Our IFDH Global Oral Health Summit, held in June 2021, has opened many doors for internationally relationships. IFDH was invited to participate in the COP26 Global Oral Health Conference (November 3rd) and the FDI Workshop for a Consensus on Environmentally Sustainable Oral Healthcare (November 30th).
During the COP26 Global Oral Health Conference, IFDH Secretary Dr. Melanie Hays, presented the viewpoints of a small IFDH Working Group on the “17 Sustainability Development Goals of the United Nations.” This important topic, with a focus on health and well-being, climate action and partnerships and collaboration, is new on the IFDH agenda and will be discussed further while being together with the many nations and national associations of our House of Delegates Business Meeting in Dublin, Ireland, August 2022, prior to the 2022 International Symposium on Dental Hygiene (ISDH2022).
IFDH was invited by the FDI World Dental Federation to participate in a joint stakeholder statement: The recognition that the oral health care sector – as a whole supply chain – has a responsibility to undertake activities in a manner that seeks to improve the sustainability of oral health care products and interventions. I am convinced that the Dental Hygiene Community can contribute to this important topic and we will keep you informed about the Statement and how to implement “sustainability” more in our daily practice.
In addition to these external-focused activities to establish and keep the IFDH at the forefront of ensuring the viewpoint of the Dental Hygienist, IFDH staff and committees are working on all of our programs and preparing for our HoD Business
Meeting and ISDH 2022. I can’t wait to see you all there! Remember to save and register for ISDH before the Early Bird Registration ends on January 31st 2022!
Thank you!
Corrie Jongbloed,
President IFDH
