20 Feb 2023

Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) has launched a village roving torch to raise awareness on oral health in villages around the district. 

Speaking at the launch on Friday, Ngami DHMT coordinator, Dr Sandra Maripe said that the project was the first of its kind to be championed by the Oral Health Department. 

She said government had embarked on a countrywide campaign to rollout oral health services to every health facilities, including schools across the country to teach that prevention was better than cure in oral health. Dr Maripe said oral health awareness centered around prevention, detection and treatment with uprooting of teeth being the last resort.

Oral Health Head of Department at Letsholathebe Hospital, Dr Ketshephaone Gopolang stated that the project village roving torch was an initiative by Ngami DHMT to incorporate it into the village outreach programme and Oral Health Day commemorations. 

He said that last year, Ngami DHMT engaged in oral health village outreach in Boro and Xakao, adding that this year they would celebrate the Oral Health Day in Kareng on February 23. 

Dr Gopolang said the roving torch was their own initiative which they incorporated into oral health outreaches in communities. 

Additionally, they had embarked on a school health programme where they screened all learners in schools. 

They had extended the programme to safari camps and social places, he said. Dr Gopolang said as part of the Oral Health day commemorations, they screened residents in Kareng to appreciate how they took care of their dental health traditionally. 

Ghey donated toothpaste to those who could not afford it/ In her remarks, Batawana regent Kgosi Kealetile Moremi commended the Oral Health Department for taking their services to the people in villages even to furthest places in Okavango Delta. 

The day’s theme, “Be proud of your mouth” was educational in that it raised awareness for every individual to take care of their oral health from a young age so that they would be proud in future, she said. 

She commended Ngami DHMT for inventing the roving torch to mark their outreach milestones, saying ‘’this torch symbolises unity and smooth succession from one village to the next as you take your services to the people.’’