1, 134 pupils in Gowrie benefit from oral health education and screening

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Gowrie Eastwood Anaba Ministries, (EAM), a Christian worldwide revival ministry, under its social transformation programme, has carried out a dental exercise for pupils of the Gowrie and Tingre Primary and Junior High schools in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region. A team of oral health officers screened the over 1,134 pupils. The organizers also distributed toothbrushes and paste, literature on good oral practices as well as bibles to each of the pupils. The Vice President of EAM, Mrs. Mrs. Rosemond Anaba said the motive of the programme was to promote oral health and hygiene among the school children and encourage them to practice good dental care. She said the programme is a contribution to efforts the government and the various NGOs to improve the lifestyles of the people in the Gowrie community adding that the community was selected because of the peculiar challenges prevalent in the area. Explaining the four folds aim of the sensitization programme, Mrs Anaba said first of all, the organizers through the programme wishes to warm about the dangers of bad oral hygiene, since oral health is an aspect of health care many people take for granted. “Many people don’t know that bad oral hygiene is connected to heart diseases and other related diseases. It also has damaging effect on their personalities and also affect their social lives in many ways including marriage”, she said. Secondly, Mrs. Anaba said the programme is to impact knowledge about the causes of diseases of the decay of the teeth and the gum and also demonstrate some of the ways to prevent diseases and how to seek effective treatment. She said her organization also seeks to offer direction to people, especially children concerning the effective use of tooth brushes and tooth paste and caution them on the application of fluoride products on the market and other sustainable alternatives to prevent mouth odour. Mrs Anaba said EAM through this outreach missions seeks to establish the maintenance of good oral hygiene by encouraging communities to go for regular check up with the dentist. She urged parents, teachers and guidance to act as dentists by looking into the mouth of children to ensure that everything is alright. “Good teeth will always attract good people to you and improves a person confidence level,” she said She was optimistic that by targeting the young ones, the children will embrace the need to keep their teeth clean at all times and grow to practice good oral hygiene. A Senior Oral Health Officer at the Sandema District Hospital, Mr Jonas Panwum who led a team of oral health officers to examine and sensitize the pupils on oral health underscored the need for regular visit to the dentist. He said one of the many problems in the region is halitosis adding that having a smelly mouth or halitosis can be greatly embarrassing since one can lose a lot of friends and loose respect too. He said bad breath can largely be prevented and expressed appreciation to the organizers for offering them the platform to reach out to people and educates them on the need to seek early treatment. Mr Panwum appealed to the government and the chief dental officer to put in place incentive packages that will motivate a lot more dentists to come to the region and also provide logistics including means of transport to carry out similar outreach programmes for the benefit of the people. Madam Monica Nsoh, Headmistresses for the Gowrie Primary School expressed her appreciation to EAM and their partners for reaching out to the over 100 school children, and urged other corporate bodies in Ghana to emulate this shining and humanitarian exercise. -END- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh Quick read Ø 1,134 pupils in the Gowrie Community in the Bongo District have benefited from a free dental care. Ø The outreach was organized by the Eastwood Anaba Ministries, a Christian revival ministry with aim to promote good oral health and hygiene among the school children and encourage them to practice good dental care. Ø The beneficiaries apart from the screening and education where presented with tooth brushes and tooth paste and also educated the use of other sustainable alternatives to prevent mouth odour. Pix: The Vice President of EAM, Mrs. Mrs. Rosemond Anaba(right) handing out a package of tooth brushes and tooth paste to a pupil as part of the outreach programme.