Targeting one million children, a national awareness campaign to fight tooth decay will soon kick off. This was announced Wednesday at the conclusion of the the three-day Saudi International Dental Medicine Conference held in Riyadh at the King Fahd Cultural Center. Dr. Hussan Halawani, General Secretary of the Saudi Dental Society (SDS) and Head of the Saudi national campaign to fight tooth decay, announced that King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has approved the launch of a national campaign to fight tooth decay in children. “On behalf of the King, minister of health will patronize a five-year-long, national campaign which was planned to target a million children,” Dr. Halawani added. He pointed out that King Saud University (KSU) will host the national program and will be supervised by the children's tooth decay research chair at the university. He pointed out that the campaign will focus on all schoolchildren in their primary level. “Tooth decay in youngsters is a serious health concern in Saudi Arabia,” he said and added that the name of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques will surely give weight to the campaign that is expected to raise awareness about the health of our new generation. Patronized by Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh, the three-day conference which was concluded Wednesday was organized by The Faculty of Medicine at KSU in collaboration with the SDS. According to Dr. Halawani, the conferees discussed several issues related to oral and tooth health. “The conference saw experts from both inside and outside the country,” Dr. Halawani said. He added that many seminars and workshops were also held on the sidelines of the gathering. He thanked Prince Salman for patronizing the event which came as a fruitful addition to the development of Saudi health care services.
