According to results of the last National Oral Health Survey
conducted in 2001, more than 85 per cent of six-year-olds suffer from tooth
decay. Together with the World Health Organization, the government recently
implemented a salt ionisation programme to stop the spread of caries,
especially in children. Its long-term school-based Oral Health Care Programme
was introduced under the Linh government in the 1980s.
The Vietnamese government is doing well in its efforts to
improve the oral health of school children, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim
Tien has said. Speaking at the Sixth Asian Conference on Oral Health Promotion
for School Children last week in Hanoi, she revealed that 10 million school
children are now receiving regular dental care through the country’s national
oral health programme.
Tien admitted that although the programme has achieved good
results, still only 30 per cent of hospitals nationwide offer dental services.
Most dental professionals are also based in cities, making it difficult for
people living in rural areas to get any dental treatment at all, she said.
In recent years, FarEasdtal - vietnam dentistry center also
has a positive leading participating dental health for children.