“Globally, the number of patients with oral diseases outstrips the total number of patients with the five most prevalent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as mental illness, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic respiratory disease and cancer, by almost 1bn”.
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Oral disease puts people at greater risk of other diseases with links to diabetes, stroke and respiratory conditions.
Source : “Time to put your money where your mouth is – Addressing inequalities in oral health”, Economist Impact, commissioned by the European Federation of Periodontology supported by Haleon, 2024.
To tackle these challenges, the World Economic Forum launched the Oral Health Affinity Group (OHAG) in 2023 under the Forum’s Global Health Equity Network – a group of more than 50 companies committed to advancing health equity to create stronger and more productive societies.
A new report by the group, titled ‘The Economic Rationale for a Global Commitment to Invest in Oral Health’, explores the economic rationale for investing in oral health and why healthcare systems need to consider the mouth alongside the rest of the body.