Colgate-Palmolive & WHO Foundation: Oral Health Education

Oral diseases are among the most prevalent and overlooked noncommunicable diseases in the world, impacting 3.7 billion people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

To help solve this growing problem, Colgate-Palmolive has announced a multi-year collaboration with the WHO Foundation to support the WHO’s work on oral health.

The funding will help expand oral health education and raise awareness of oral diseases.

“At Colgate-Palmolive, we are driven by our purpose to reimagine a healthier future for all – and to make more smiles,” says Ram Raghavan, President, Enterprise Oral Care at Colgate-Palmolive.

“We’re launching this collaboration with the WHO Foundation given its unique position to support global health challenges and Colgate’s leadership position in oral health as the brand that’s in more homes than any other.

“Oral health is critical – and too often overlooked – part of the global health agenda.

“We are committed to elevating oral health as a public health priority by scaling prevention and education and supporting evidence-based solutions that help strengthen health systems and improve lives across communities around the world.”

Supporting the World Health Organisation’s mission

The collaboration, which was announced in Davos at WEF’s Annual Meeting, aims to strengthen education, support the integration of oral health into national health systems and raise awareness of oral health as a public health priority.

The WHO Foundation works to bring together funders and high impact health initiatives to further the mission of the WHO.

By focusing on preventive oral health measures, evidence-based policy and broader public awareness about the link between oral health and overall health and wellbeing, the partnership could help improve lives around the world.

Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation, says: “The WHO Foundation supports WHO’s mission by mobilising private funding in support of public health priorities.

“Oral health plays an essential role in overall health and progress depends on long-term investment in prevention, trusted guidance and strong health systems.

“Support like this helps enable WHO’s work to advance oral health and improve health outcomes for communities around the world.”

What does this mean for global healthcare?

Oral health, while being foundational to overall health and wellbeing, is underprioritised in many health systems.

This is often made worse by factors including economic status, education, health literacy and access to healthcare.

Through the collaboration, Colgate-Palmolive and the WHO Foundation are supporting the WHO to address persistent barriers which affect around half of the world’s population.

It aims to support the WHO’s efforts to integrate oral health into broader public health agendas and systems.

Ann Tracy, EVP and Chief Sustainability Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, said on LinkedIn: “By supporting and strengthening health systems, we are not just improving smiles, we are building a healthier, more sustainable future for generations to come.

“I’m so happy to be at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to help launch Colgate-Palmolive’s partnership with the WHO Foundation, which will help expand oral health education across the globe.”

Three areas of action

Colgate-Palmolive and the WHO Foundation aim to build oral health as a foundational health priority, guided by three main pillars:

• Scaling oral health education: building core prevention and education principles into government health infrastructure
• Supporting policy and guidance: helping Ministries of Health to develop evidence-based and cost-effective recommendations for integrating oral health interventions into national health systems
• Increasing prioritisation: raising awareness using strategic, global and cross-sector engagement to build the profile of oral health.

Robert Goodfellow, Senior Director, Global Corporate Communications and CSR at Colgate-Palmolive, said on LinkedIn: “This initiative builds on the Colgate brand’s abiding commitment to provide communities with oral health education and resources.

“The Company recently announced that the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures programme has reached approximately two billion children and their families around the world since 1991 with oral health education.

“As someone who believes in the power of purpose and partnerships to make a real impact on people’s health and wellbeing, I couldn’t be prouder to be here.”