17 September 2009, Kumanovo – The National Roma Caentrum (NRC) would like to notify the public and institutions on behalf of the Oral Health World Day 12^th September and the Oral Health Week which for the firs t time are being celebrated in Macedonia, as a possibility to turn the attention of the public towards significant issues from the area of health and health protection.

Messages on behalf of the Oral Health World Day were directed by the Ministry of health of R.M. and the Macedonian dental association.The purpose is to raise national awareness for oral health with all citizens.
The National Roma Centrum joined the celebrating of the Oral Health World Day, 12^th September, along with the World dental federation, the Macedonian dental association and the Ministry of health of Republic of Macedonia.

Smile freely! – a training tribune for oral preventive was held in the office of the National Roma Centrum at 18:00 yesterday. Goran Burnazovski, a dentist, conducted practical training with about 30 six year olds and their mothers on how to feed, how to brush their teeth, how to regularly uphold oral hygiene, they showed their spoiled teeth and they promised that they would visit their dentists as soon as possible. Concretely and through games they learned about the simplest technique of brushing of teeth with toothbrushes and toothpaste for children which were distributed by the National Roma Centrum.

The marking of the Oral Health World Day according to the president of the Macedonian dental association, prof. dr. Ana Minovska will be on behalf of the strategy for realization of prevention of caries, the most common oral disease with the children, as one of the strategic goals in achieving oral health.

In Macedonia, as stated by the national coordinator of the strategy for preventive of Republic of Macedonia, prof. dr. Mile Carcev, the condition with caries with the children is devastating, instead of decreasing, it is rising. In average, a child has more than six teeth with caries and a precondition for entrance in the EU is for them to have less than three teeth with caries.

The young population needs to be aware about personal responsibility for their oral health.

The first Oral Health World Day was held in 1994, when a Oral Health World Day of the World Dental Organization was dedicated to oral health. The World dental organization chose for the 12^th of September to be marked as the Oral Health World Day each year in order to improve oral health throughout the world. September was chosen as the most appropriate part of the year for marking of this Oral Health World Day. Namely, September 12^th is the birthday of the founder of the World Dental Federation, dr. Charles Gordon and it is a day when the founding of the International conference of the World Health Organization for primary health was held in Alma Ata in 1978.

NRC uses the opportunity to call on the authorized institutions to take concrete measures and activities for improving of health preventive and greets the decision for free health for all citizens, through which the Roma population will gain access to health insurence.