Newsletter
BRASÍLIA & SÃO PAULO, Brazil: Brazil is the only country with a population of more than 200 million that grants health care to all inhabitants through a universal health system. Ten years after the implementation of Smiling Brazil, an initiative to incorporate oral health care into this public health care system, researchers have reviewed the system's evolution and concluded that Brazil's policy could be emulated and adapted by other countries to deal with health care disparities.
With the launch of Smiling Brazil (Brasil Sorridente) in 2004, Brazil made oral health one of the four priority areas of its unified health system, Sistema Único de Saúde. In their ten-year review, the researchers state that the most significant results of Smiling Brazil can be seen in the areas of oral health epidemiological indicators, financial investment and professional development, as well as the building of an oral health care network throughout the ten years of the policy.
The researchers conclude that the initiative has been successful in helping Brazilians access oral health care. "I hope that Smiling Brazil can serve as an example to other nations that are researching methods to eliminate healthcare disparities and provide all citizens with access to healthcare," said Dr. Maria Fidela de Lima Navarro, past president of the International Association for Dental Research. However, the researchers also pointed out that this is an ongoing process and that the oral health care network needs to be further expanded, refined and solidified.
The report, titled "Ten Years of a National Oral Health Policy in Brazil: Innovation, Boldness, and Numerous Challenges," was published online on Aug. 27 in the Journal of Dental Research ahead of print. It was compiled by dental researchers at the University of Brasília and the University of São Paulo in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the Observatory for Oral Health Human Resources in Brazil.
From http://www.dental-tribune.com
