Cooperative
Agreements to Strengthen State Oral Disease Prevention Programs
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that five states and
one territory will receive a total of $1.2 million to strengthen their
oral health programs and reduce inequalities in the oral health of their
residents. Included are: Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York,
and the Republic of Palau.
"Good oral health
is an important part of overall health," said Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "These grants will help these
states build more effective preventive measures to improve oral health and
reduce oral disease among their citizens."
These new cooperative
agreements range from $60,577 to $300,000 per year and are renewable for
up to five years. For all six, the funding is designed to improve basic
state oral health services, including support for oral health program
leadership and additional staff, monitoring oral health behaviors and
status, and evaluating prevention programs. Nevada and Arkansas will
receive additional funds to develop and coordinate community water
fluoridation or school-based dental sealant programs.
"These new awards
were developed in direct response to what state oral health leaders told
us they needed to improve the oral health of their citizenry," states
Dr. William R. Maas, director of CDC’s oral health program. "The
funds will assist these states to develop oral health plans, establish
oral health coalitions to raise public awareness about the critical
importance of good oral health, and implement monitoring systems to
determine whether the states’ oral health objectives are being met and
to target new initiatives."
"The new
activities in these states will move us closer to building some of the
framework noted in last year’s Surgeon General’s Report, Oral
Health In America, and to reducing and eliminating high rates
of oral disease in children and adults," Maas said.
About 500 million
dental visits occur annually in the United States and an estimated $64
billion was spent on dental services in 2000. The CDC oral health program
seeks to improve the oral health of communities by extending the use of
proven strategies to prevent oral diseases, enhancing monitoring of oral
diseases, strengthening the nation's oral health capacity, and guiding
infection control in dentistry.
Historical Document
Page last reviewed: June 1, 2007
Content source:
Division of Oral Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
