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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1539805
This article is part of the Research Topic Public Health Policies for Improved Oral Health Outcomes View all articles

Strengthening Health Systems to Tackle Oral Diseases in Africa: Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Role

Provisionally accepted
Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan 1*Adeyinka Ganiyat Ishola Adeyinka Ganiyat Ishola 2Ahmed Bhayat Ahmed Bhayat 3Maha El Tantawi Maha El Tantawi 4Nicaise Ndembi Nicaise Ndembi 5
  • 1 Department of Child Dental Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun, Nigeria
  • 2 Department of Nursing, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
  • 3 University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
  • 4 Alexandria University, Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
  • 5 Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Oral diseases remain a significant public health challenge in Africa. Despite their prevalence, oral health is often overlooked in national health agendas and universal health coverage frameworks. This manuscript explores the crucial role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in strengthening health systems to address the growing oral health problem in Africa. A rapid review of the literature was conducted in databases like PubMed and ScienceDirect identified 18 relevant studies focusing on workforce size, retention, distribution, patient access, and system outcomes. The analysis revealed severe workforce shortages, uneven distribution, and systemic neglect, particularly in rural areas. Promising interventions included dental education programs, task-shifting to mid-level workers, and mobile dental units. Key recommendations emphasize integrating oral health into national policies, addressing inequities, expanding training, and improving infrastructure and workforce retention through incentives. By leveraging its position and resources, the Africa CDC can take strategic actions to strengthen surveillance and data-driven policy development, provide technical assistance to Africa Union Member States for health system integration, support capacity building for oral health workforce development, promote preventive and communitybased oral health interventions, facilitate cross-border collaboration and knowledge sharing, mobilize resources and funding for oral health programs, and support the local production of oral health products. These all aligns with the institution's new public health order for Africa's health security and one of the institutions' 2023-2027 goals

    Keywords: Equity, integrated health systems, workforce development, Health security' Health Systems Strengthening, systemic inequities, Health workforce retention, Universal Health Coverage

    Received: 04 Dec 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Folayan, Ishola, Bhayat, El Tantawi and Ndembi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan, Department of Child Dental Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, 220005, Osun, Nigeria

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.