ORAL HEALTH PROGRAM

A two-way link exists between mental health conditions and oral disease, both leading to reduced quality of life. Oral diseases affect nearly 3.5 billion people worldwide, whilst one in four persons in the general population suffers from some form of diagnosable mental disorder. Persons with mental illness have poorer oral health and are less likely to receive oral health care than those in the general population. Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) are home to over 80% of the global population but command less than 20% of the share of the mental health resources. In Zimbabwe, the incorporation of oral health into the basic package of essential services is still a work in progress, beyond that there is still a need for knowledge enhancement in the health discipline, not only for the general populace but especially for patients who suffer from mental health conditions.

There is a general shortage of health workforce in Zimbabwe, furthermore specialised oral and mental health workforce. During the COVID-19 Pandemic a drug and substance abuse epidemic became rife in the country. The Oral health for Mental Health Patients Project is the response to oral and mental health practitioners’ requests to help improve the oral care of patients with mental health conditions in Zimbabwe. As Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in support of the 2021 World Health Assembly oral health resolution being placed on the global agenda, mental health patients must be advocated for due to their predisposition to oral health conditions.