Department of Public Health Dentistry, Amrita University, Amrita School of Dentistry, Cochin, Kerala, India.
SOCHARA, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
J Public Health Dent. 2018 Mar;78(2):144-153. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12254. Epub 2017 Oct 30.
To examine the political priority of oral health in India and to understand the underlying reasons for the political support oral health receives.
The analysis is based on the political power framework developed by Shiffman and Smith and modified by Benzian et al. to examine the factors that contribute to the political priority of oral health in India. The framework comprises four main analysis categories, further subdivided into 11 dimensions. Based on the set of criteria, each dimension was analyzed and rated by assigning a score to assess to what extend the criteria were met.
There is a good understanding on what defines an oral health problem, however, there is no consolidated and comprehensive approach to address oral diseases. Despite India's efforts to improve oral health-related research, its poor utilization in terms of public health and population-based approaches is apparent. The absence of a national surveillance system for oral health masks the severity and extent of the oral disease burden and limits the basis for advocacy on improving oral health to health decision makers. The fragmentation of actors and institutions and the absence of leaders uniting various actors in oral public health impede changes toward improving the oral health status of the population.
Limited accessibility to oral health care, poor portrayals of the severity and extent of the burden, and inertia to address-related challenges are important factors contributing to the low political priority of oral health.
考察印度口腔健康的政治优先事项，并了解支持口腔健康的政治支持的潜在原因。
本分析基于 Shiffman 和 Smith 开发的政治权力框架，并经 Benzian 等人修改，用于考察影响印度口腔健康政治优先事项的因素。该框架包括四个主要分析类别，进一步细分为 11 个维度。根据设定的标准，对每个维度进行分析和评分，以评估满足标准的程度。
尽管印度在改善口腔健康相关研究方面做出了努力，但在公共卫生和基于人群的方法方面的利用效果并不理想，这表明印度对口腔疾病的处理缺乏综合全面的方法。由于缺乏全国性的口腔健康监测系统，口腔疾病负担的严重程度和范围被掩盖，从而限制了向卫生决策制定者倡导改善口腔健康的基础。行动者和机构的分散以及缺乏团结各个行动者参与口腔公共卫生的领导者，阻碍了改善人口口腔健康状况的变革。
口腔保健服务可及性有限、对负担的严重程度和范围的描述不佳，以及解决相关挑战的惰性，是导致口腔健康政治优先级较低的重要因素。
