08 Sep 2026

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reaffirmed its readiness to support Botswana in translating global health commitments into tangible and measurable local action.

As the organization continues to advocate for health as a fundamental human right, it has commended the Ministry of Health for its ongoing commitment to integrating oral health into its national health strategy.

WHO Representative, Dr Fabian Ndenzako made these remarks during the 2026 Botswana Dental Association (BODEA) Oral Health Congress held in Maun on Friday. 

He underscored the critical need to integrate oral health into primary healthcare to improve overall community well-being.

Dr Ndenzako noted that the global health community increasingly recognised that oral health could no longer be treated separately from general health, meaning it must remain a core part of the broader health agenda.

Oral diseases, he said, shared common risk factors with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and other non-communicable diseases. 

“This is why oral health must be fully integrated into primary healthcare and universal health coverage, which Botswana is already doing,” he stated.

He highlighted that no individual should suffer unnecessary pain, disability, lost productivity, or a reduced quality of life simply because oral healthcare was inaccessible, unaffordable, or unavailable.

Dr Ndenzako further acknowledged that Botswana’s ongoing health reforms that include efforts toward Universal Health Coverage and National Health Insurance presented a significant opportunity to ensure that oral health was embedded within future benefit packages, service delivery models, and quality standards.

 The event was held under the theme: Precision in Dentistry; Achieving Excellent Clinical Outcomes, and Dr Ndenzako emphasised that the voices of oral health professionals were critical to achieving these goals.

However, he reminded attendees that while celebrating the progress made in dentistry, they must also acknowledge remaining challenges. 

He cited that oral diseases continued to be among the most common health conditions worldwide, affecting billions of people and disproportionately impacting vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.

The gathering learned also that across Africa, the burden of oral disease continues to rise while access to oral healthcare remains uneven, particularly in rural and underserved communities, challenges to which Botswana is not immune.

“Yet the encouraging reality is that most oral diseases are preventable. The future, therefore, lies not only in treating disease better, but in preventing disease earlier. It lies in equitable access, stronger health systems, workforce development, and quality care for all,” Dr Ndenzako added.

This vision, he said, aligns strongly with the WHO Global Oral Health Strategy 2023–2030, which called for a transformative shift from treatment- centred care toward prevention, people-centred services, and universal access to essential oral healthcare.

He also praised the theme of the congress, noting that while precision was often associated with sophisticated equipment, digital imaging, artificial intelligence, and advanced diagnostics, its definition was much broader.

While those innovations are important, Dr Ndenzako explained that true precision meant making the right diagnosis, applying evidence-based practices, ensuring patient safety, continuously updating professional knowledge, and delivering the right intervention to the right patient at the right time.

“Because ultimately, patients judge us not by the technology we use, but by the outcomes we achieve. They remember whether they can eat without pain, whether they regained the confidence to smile, and whether their treatment changed their quality of life. That is why precision matters for excellent clinical outcomes,” he said.

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