Pepsodent fetes pupils at 2015 World Oral Health Day

To mark the 2015 World Oral Health Day (WOHD), Pepsodent in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Health and Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) have engaged about 1500 Lagos school pupils in its ‘brush day and night’ campaign.

Organisers said the launch is in line with global best practices of maintaining healthy oral profile and building a cavity free Nigeria. Pupils were targeted as ambassadors of brush day and night campaign so as to influence their families and friends and spread the act of good oral health care.

The event, themed “Smile for Life,” among several other activities featured the unveiling of ‘Super Dentists Cartoon’, a four dental cartoon characters to drive the culture of a healthy oral lifestyle among children.

Held at the Indoor Sports complex, University of Lagos, Minister of Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, while commending the organisers for the initiative remarked that the mouth is the gateway and mirror of the body thus the need for adequate care.

He said the act of visiting dentists only for the treatment of diseased teeth is not a healthy practice, advising that Nigerians must visit dentists regularly for care of the mouth. He said that the Federal Ministry of Health is pleased to collaborate with relevant stakeholders including Unilever Nigeria to integrate oral health into primary healthcare in Nigeria.

His words, “I am particularly pleased with today’s event which showcases the dividends of stakeholders’ participation and has put Nigeria on the world map through the smile pledge taken by about 1500 kids to brush day and night aimed at a cavity free Nigeria.”

Also, Category Manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria, Bunmi Adeniba, said Pepsodent hopes to reach 10 million children in Nigeria by 2020 to inculcate the habit of brushing twice daily and act as change agents to influencing their parents to do same. She said, the Super Dentists cartoon characters will be used to drive conversation among kids to learn the importance of brushing day and night.

Vice President Marketing, Unilever Nigeria, Mr. Robert Vreede, remarked thus “We want to give something back to the Nigerian Public. We have set a global ambition to reach 100 million children by 2020 and 10 million of them is coming from Nigeria. In effect, the number we aiming to reach in Nigeria is the largest in Africa.