A national seminar titled “Oral health inequalities in India: learning from the past and paving the way for the future” was organised on Tuesday 27th February 2024 by Professor Abhishek Mehta, Indian lead for the CORE programme. Financial support for the event was provided by the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR).

This was the first event in India to introduce the CORE programme to relevant stakeholders. More than seventy-five dental public health professionals affiliated to seventeen dental colleges in India participated.

Professor Mehta commenced the seminar with a presentation explaining the major objectives of the CORE programme and the research work packages to be delivered over the next few years. A collated video of the collaborators from Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, and the United Kingdom was played to introduce the programme and showcase the ongoing research activities.

Professor Richard Watt (UCL, London) presented on “Contemporary Research Priorities for Reducing Oral Health Inequalities.” He stated that current oral health systems have largely failed to combat the global challenge of oral diseases, and are unable to address the unjust and stark inequalities that exist between and within countries. Professor Watt outlined the training and capacity building activities to be implemented in each country as part of the CORE programme; the scholarship opportunities to study for a MSc in Dental Public Health at University College London and the University of Glasgow, and the funding opportunities available under the responsive research fund component.

Ms Mirai Chatterjee’s (SEWA, Ahmedabad) lecture was on the “Role of Community Engagement in Reducing Oral Health Inequalities.” She emphasised the need to gain the trust of community members before conducting research. Ms Chatterjee explained the basic steps required for community mapping and showcased the community mapping exercise completed by her organisation in Gujarat for the CORE programme (see image at the top of this page).

Professor Manu Mathur (Queen Mary University, London) presented on “The Global Priorities for Reducing Oral Health Inequalities” from the context of the Indian population. He outlined that oral diseases are the most prevalent diseases for humankind and a major public health challenge for ours and future generations. He explained that if the status quo remains, the oral disease burden will continue to rise in low and middle-income countries. He emphasised that oral disorders are known to disproportionately affect poor, disadvantaged, and marginalised populations, leading to oral health inequalities. Professor Mathur ended his presentation by referring to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being) and SDG-10 (Reducing Inequalities) and their alignment with the theme of the seminar.

The seminar received excellent feedback from the audience. Attendees were especially impressed by the content of the lectures and the way speakers explained the concept of oral health inequalities in detail to them for the first time in a face-to-face seminar. This seminar can be seen as a first step towards ambitious training and capacity building activities proposed under the CORE programme.