BENGALURU (India CSR Correspondent): Embassy Group’s Head of Community Outreach, Shaina Ganapathy, stresses the neglected state of oral hygiene in India, pointing out the high incidence of oral cancer, tooth decay, and periodontal disease. The issue begins during childhood due to a lack of awareness and unequal distribution of oral health care amongst the underprivileged population.
Embassy Group, along with its corporate and NGO partners, has been working for the last 6 years. It is providing a holistic health and hygiene program that includes preventative health kits and awareness sessions three times a year. It also conducts annual check-ups to government school students across India. This year, over 41,000 students received health kits, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and tongue cleaners, along with regular awareness sessions.
The program also involves the creation of an oral hygiene storybook, titled Swami’s New Lesson, which was translated into 4 languages and distributed to 15,000 government schools in Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Noida, and Mumbai. During annual comprehensive health screenings, doctors help students understand any dental issues they might be facing and guide them on how to take the best care of their teeth. This year, more than 16,000 children across 68 government schools were screened.
Ganapathy emphasizes the importance of understanding common dental problems and preventing them to avoid more serious problems as children grow up. She emphasizes the need to teach children across the country how to take care of themselves, especially those who have little or no access to regular dental care, as World Oral Health Day approaches on 20th March 2023.
(India CSR)
