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The neglect of global oral health: symptoms and solutions
Benzian, H.
Publication date
2014
Link to publication
Citation for published version (APA):
Benzian, H. (2014). The neglect of global oral health: symptoms and solutions.
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Curriculum Vitae
Habib Benzian (born 26 January 1963 in Bonn, Germany) is founding director of The Health Bureau Ltd, a UKbased consulting firm in the international health sector. After graduating in dentistry at the Free University of Berlin in 1987 he successfully submitted his doctoral thesis and obtained the degree of “Dr.med.dent.” in Berlin. He started his professional career in the same year and specialized in oral surgery and oral pathology (“Fachzahnarzt Oral chirurgie”). For 13 years he worked in several clinical settings, including private practice and maxillofacial surgery departments of hospitals, as well as volunteer placements in several subSaharan African countries.
After obtaining an MSc in Dental Public Health from King’s College, London, in 2001 he joined the FDI World Dental Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, as their first Director for Development and Public Health (20022009). In this function he initiated a relaunch of FDI’s international health activities and helped to shape the organization’s international profile. It was in this capacity that he organized the first ever conference on oral health in Africa (2004) involving ministers of health and finance; the conference ended with the groundbreaking
Nairobi Declaration confirming for the first time that good oral health is part of the basic hu
man rights. In his role at the FDI he represented the dental profession in the World Health Professional Alliance (which includes the global representative bodies of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and dentists), as well as in many other international fora and the World Health Organization.
As a recognized expert in international and dental public health, he is Honorary Lecturer in dental public health at the University College London. Habib Benzian both coordinated and coauthored The Oral Health Atlas, a unique publication mapping the state of oral health worldwide, detailing the extent of international neglect and the challenges facing the inter national public health community.
Since 2008 he is senior advisor to the Philippine National School Health Program “Fit for School” which was awarded for Innovation in Global Health by the World Bank, UNDP and the WHO/PAHO; together with Dr Bella Monse he received an award for Exceptional
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Development Cooperation (GIZ) he currently is senior advisor for school health and supports integrated school health programs in a number of countries. He also holds the position of Temporary Advisor to the WHO African and SouthEast Asian regions for oral health and NCDs.
Through his consulting firm “The Health Bureau”, Habib Benzian focuses on global health issues, oral health, school health, water & sanitation, as well as health policy and evaluation.
