Side Event to the 4th UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs
Oral health is foundational to overall well-being — but it continues to be one of the most neglected areas in global health. Over 3.7 billion people suffer from untreated oral diseases, many of which are entirely preventable. Oral health problems do not exist in isolation: they are deeply interlinked with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs): diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, mental health disorders, cerebrovascular accidents, and cancers, and they share risk factors such as tobacco use, other substance abuse, sugar consumption, and poor access to care. Yet, oral health is almost entirely missing from national UHC packages, NCD investment plans, and donor funding streams. This exclusion disproportionately affects low-income populations, rural communities, and historically marginalized groups — entrenching cycles of pain, stigma, and economic loss.
Global health policy is shifting. The WHO’s 2022 Global Oral Health Status Report and its 2023 Oral Health Strategic Action Plan call for the full integration of oral health into UHC and NCD responses by 2030. The WHO Regional Committee for Africa recently endorsed the framework for accelerating progress in oral health for that region. But the best intentions are realized when civil society is mobilized, visible, and vocal, helping translate global policy into grassroots priorities, and holding governments accountable.
Objectives
- To explore strategies for mainstreaming oral health within the global NCD conversation and identify concrete ways civil society can champion this integration.
- Create a space for civil societies to ask: What can we do to ensure oral health is mainstream in the NCD conversation—and how can civil society help with that?
- To raise the political visibility of oral health within global NCD and UHC agendas.
- To position civil society not as observers, but as drivers of integration and accountability.
- To build sustained momentum, beyond one event, toward a future where oral health is recognized as a fundamental component of primary health care and universal health coverage, enabling health equity and dignity for the world’s people.