Oral Diseases Affect 42% of Africa’s Population – WHO Regional Director Warns on World Oral Health Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Mohamed Janabi, has raised concern over the growing burden of oral diseases across the African region, describing them as one of the most common yet neglected public health challenges.
In a message to mark World Oral Health Day 2026, Janabi said oral diseases such as dental caries, gum disease, tooth loss and the severe condition known as noma affected about 42 percent of the region’s population in 2021.
He noted that the conditions cause significant pain, disability and suffering, while also placing pressure on families, communities and already strained health systems.
To address the growing burden, member states in the World Health Organization African Region endorsed the WHO African Regional Framework on Oral Health in 2025. The framework is aimed at implementing the global oral health action plan and advancing efforts toward universal oral health coverage by 2030.
According to Janabi, several African countries have begun translating these commitments into action. With financial support from Borrow Foundation, countries including Ghana, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda have developed national oral health strategies aimed at improving prevention and expanding services.
In Ethiopia, with support from Hilfsaktion Noma e.V., more than 850 primary health care and community health workers have been trained across 10 regions to enhance early detection of noma. The initiative also integrated noma surveillance into mass drug administration campaigns that have reached over 2.6 million people nationwide.
Similarly, Malawi has strengthened its oral health workforce by launching its first Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme, establishing a new dental school and graduating its first group of locally trained dentists.
In Tanzania, efforts to expand the workforce have led to the training of 594 dental therapists, while dentists have been deployed across all 184 district councils. As a result, the proportion of health facilities offering restorative dental treatments rose from 25 percent in 2023 to 45 percent in 2025.
WHO collaborating institutions, including the Japan Institute for Health Security and Niigata University, have also supported countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia to improve oral health services at the primary care level through training and expanded delivery of essential interventions.
Despite these efforts, the WHO warned that major gaps remain, with only about 17 percent of people in the African region currently having access to essential oral health services. Janabi attributed the situation to shortages of oral health professionals, limited funding and insufficient prevention efforts, including high sugar consumption and inadequate fluoride exposure.
The WHO is also assisting countries in transitioning to environmentally sustainable and less invasive oral health care, including the gradual phase-out of mercury-containing dental amalgam in line with the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Janabi stressed that improving oral health is a key component of universal health coverage, noting that it helps reduce preventable illness, lowers long-term healthcare costs and improves overall well-being.
He called on governments, development partners, academic institutions and civil society to work together to accelerate the implementation of national oral health strategies, strengthen workforce capacity and expand access to essential oral health services across the region.