School of Dentistry, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.
Glob Health Promot. 2010 Mar;17(1):16-24. doi: 10.1177/1757975909356631.
This article reports an analysis of oral health promotion in South African health policy. The central aim of this research was to determine the form and coherence of oral health promotion elements within health policies of post-apartheid South Africa. The study set out to test the hypothesis that oral health promotion elements are fully integrated into health policy and programmatic efforts. A conceptual framework was developed to systematically analyse oral health promotion policy and subsequent decision-making across the country at national and provincial levels. The information was drawn from policy documents, protocols and programme plans, complemented by interviews. The results indicate distinct contradictions between the policy formulation process and its impact on health system decision-making. South African health policy was found to be strong on the rhetoric of equity, health promotion, integration and several other features of the Primary Health Care Approach, but showed little evidence of translating this into action. The development and implementation of oral health promotion appears to be dominated by the influence of dental professionals that perpetuate a curative focus on service delivery. There is an urgent need to re-examine the process and content of oral health policy-making in South Africa. The conceptual framework developed for this study could facilitate further research in this area.
本文报告了对南非卫生政策中的口腔健康促进进行的分析。本研究的核心目的是确定后种族隔离时代南非卫生政策中口腔健康促进要素的形式和一致性。研究旨在检验以下假设，即口腔健康促进要素已完全纳入卫生政策和规划工作中。本研究制定了一个概念框架，以系统地分析全国范围内（国家级和省级）的口腔健康促进政策以及随后的决策过程。信息取自政策文件、协议和方案计划，并辅以访谈。结果表明，政策制定过程与其对卫生系统决策的影响之间存在明显的矛盾。南非卫生政策在公平、健康促进、整合和初级卫生保健方法的其他几个特征方面的措辞很强，但很少有证据表明这已转化为行动。口腔健康促进的发展和实施似乎主要受到牙医专业人员的影响，他们使服务提供仍然侧重于治疗。迫切需要重新审查南非口腔健康政策制定的过程和内容。本研究制定的概念框架可以促进该领域的进一步研究。
