Student Dissertation 1st Batch

Human Resource for Oral Health: An Exploratory Study on BRAC Community Health Volunteers’ competence to measure the oral health status after 5-day training

                                             Anupoma Haque

Abstract

Oral health is an integral part of general health and well-being and a basic human right. A Dental Surgeon-population ratio of 1:98,500 is one of the reasons that created inequities in accessing available oral health care in Bangladesh. With approximately 1286 dentists and 400 legal dental para-professionals, most working in the private sector and concentrated in the capital city Dhaka, treatment cost is very high and services inaccessible to a large portion of urban and all most all of the rural population. Little epidemiological data exists of the extent of oral health problems in Bangladesh and its true effect on the quality of life measured along functional, psychosocial and economic dimensions. Nonetheless, published data shows as much as 46% of the children suffer from, at least one decay, by the age of twelve years. Development of an adequate health work force including oral health workers would require data on type, number and distribution of health workers consistent with need, quality, cost and access necessary to achieve the desired oral health status. For proper planning and implementation of a national oral health Programme integrated with general health care for 140 million people in Bangladesh, a competent health work force needs to be developed as soon as possible. BRAC offers its Community Health Volunteer training programme to village women who stay and work within the community to reach need based health goals. This study explored the possibility of using this vast (approximately 30, 000 reaching 82 million people) health work volunteers by assessing their competence in measuring oral health status and oral care counseling in a rural setting with simple instruments. 

© School of Public Health, BRAC University