A review of oral health promotion programmes in Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Background: Oral health conditions, such as dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth loss, dental fluorosis, dental trauma, and oral cancer, are prevalent in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. However, there has been no systematic review of oral health promotion interventions in the region. Aims: To review existing literature on oral health promotion programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and recommend improvements for the future. Method: We reviewed on PubMed and Google Scholar 61 articles published in the Eastern Mediterranean Region between 2010 and 2023. Quality assessment of included studies was performed using established criteria. We used the content analysis approach to create appropriate themes from the studies and to document meaningful conclusions about oral health promotion. Results: Majority of the studies were cross-sectional, a few were randomized controlled, quasi-experimental, longitudinal studies, or reviews. Oral health problems identified included poor oral health knowledge, dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth loss, dental fluorosis, and oral cancer. Although oral disorders were common in most of the countries, very few have implemented oral health promotion programmes. Conclusion: We recommend prioritization of oral health promotion programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to tackle the diverse oral health challenges. To be effective, such programmes should be region- and context-specific. More studies on oral health promotion are needed in the region.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the preventive services in Qatar.

Background: In March 2020, Qatar started reporting increased numbers of COVID-19 cases. At that stage, containment measures were put in place. The health authority in Qatar developed an emergency action plan to respond to the outbreak with the Primary Health Care as the main component of that response and suspended all non-urgent services including preventive health services. The aim of the retrospective analysis to measure the Impact of COVID-19 on the preventive services provided in Qatar. Methods: A retrospective data analysis was conducted for all the preventive services utilization volume across the 27 PHCC health centres from the 1st of January 2017 to the 31st of July 2020. Results: With 17,012 no-show appointments, well-baby and Immunization services utilization demonstrated a reduction of 40% in May and started to come back to volumes higher than expected in June. The breast cancer and colorectal cancer screening programmes expected volumes demand has dropped by 100% in comparison to 2017 demand due to their respective appointments' cancelation. Wellness services only met 20% of its projected utilization in April, however, the services picked up in June. Conclusion: These findings will guide the public health policymakers to understand the effects COVID-19 on preventive services and the risk of having an increased number of outbreaks for childhood communicable disease, cancer cases with delayed diagnosis due to the screening services suspension. In addition, the plan will address the increased number of sedately behaviour due to the service's reduced utilization of wellness services.