Integrating Oral health into Kenya's Primary Healthcare System: Policy, Practice and People's Voice

The WHS Academic Alliance Working Group on Oral Health and General Health co-hosted a session at the WHS Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, together with Seoul National University’s KOICA project. Titled “Integrating Oral Health into Kenya’s Primary Healthcare System: Policy, Practice and People’s Voice,” the session examined Kenya’s pioneering approach to integrating oral health into primary healthcare systems, with a focus on maternal and child oral health (MCOH).

Oral diseases affect an estimated 3.5 billion people globally, yet oral health remains systematically excluded from primary healthcare delivery. With annual treatment costs reaching $357 billion, comparable to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the WHO’s 2024 Global Strategy on Oral Health calls for urgent integration of oral health services into primary care systems worldwide. Kenya’s recent policy reforms create unprecedented opportunities for systemic change.

Speakers:

• Livia Ottolenghi – Chair; Co-chair of the WHS Working Group on Oral Health and General Health

• Hyewon Lee – Policy Perspective; Director, Global MCOH Center, Seoul National University

• Penny Muange – Government Perspective; Head of the Division of Oral Health, Eye Health and Hearing Care

• Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan – Pan-Africa Perspective; Co-Founder, African Oral Health Network

• Caroline Chelimo Kibosia – Academic Perspective; Senior Lecturer, Moi University, School of Dentistry

• Mary Mwakughu – Voice from the Field; MCH Nurse in Charge, Kilifi County Hospital