The theme for World Health Day (April 7, 1994), "Oral Health
for a Healthy Life," will be used throughout 1994, the "Year of
Oral Health." Worldwide, oral health problems affect persons of all
ages; dental caries and gingival infections represent the most
common chronic health problems in many countries. For example, in
the United States, 84% of persons aged 17 years have evidence of
present or past tooth decay; one third of persons aged greater than
65 years are edentulous; approximately half the population has
gingival infections; and approximately 30,000 cases of and nearly
8000 deaths from cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx occur each
year (1).
World Health Day is cosponsored by 24 health-related
organizations including the World Health Organization, the Pan
American Health Organization, the American Association for World
Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In
the United States, examples of scheduled events include
presentation of World Health Day awards; a panel discussion
featuring leaders in dental research, education, and services
delivery; and presentation of a video-tape highlighting World
Health Day events. Throughout the year, 50,000 resource kits and
posters printed in English and Spanish will be distributed in the
United States (2), and additional activities are planned by federal
agencies, businesses, and professional organizations.
This issue of MMWR focuses on oral health and comprises
reports about examinations for oral cancer, use of the core
functions of public health to improve oral health, and
self-reported tuberculin skin testing among Indian Health Service
and Federal Bureau of Prisons dentists. Additional information and
resource material about World Health Day are available from the
American Association for World Health, 1129 20th Street, NW, Suite
400, Washington, DC 20036; telephone (202) 466-5883.
Reported by: Div of Oral Health, National Center for Prevention
Svcs, CDC.
References
Oral Health Coordinating Committee, Public Health Service.
Toward improving the oral health of Americans: an overview of oral
health status, resources, and care delivery. Public Health Rep
1993;108:657-72.
American Association for World Health. World Health Day 1994
resource booklet. Washington, DC: American Association for World
Health, 1994.
Disclaimer
 All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
