Government launches eDant Seva

On October 7, 2019, the eDant Seva was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family welfare. It is an initiative under the National Oral Health Program. The initiative aims to sensitize the importance of maintaining oral health. It provides information about nearest oral health service facility. It also provides oral health information collected from authentic scientific sources.

Objectives of e-Dant Seva

• To improve determinants of oral health. It includes oral hygiene improvement, healthy diet and also to reduce disparity in oral health accessibility.
• It intends to integrate oral health promotion and preventive services of the general health care systems.
• It aims to promote PPP – Public Private Partnership to achieve public health goods.

History

• The first National Oral Health Policy was launched in 1986. It was drafted by the Indian Dental Association.
• In 1999, the first National Oral Health Care Program was launched.
• In the 11^th five-year plan, between 2007 and 2012, under National Rural Health Mission a token amount was allocated for research in oral health.
• In 12^th five-year plan, National Oral Health Cell was set up under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

National Oral Health Program

In 2014, the National Oral Health Program was launched. It operated under two components namely

• National Health Mission – Under the mission, the states and UTs can seek permission to set up Dental care units in district level hospitals.
• Tertiary components – It included activities carried out in central level.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019