The Zero Draft is here: It’s time to make oral health count

The Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe welcomes the release of the Zero Draft of the Political Declaration for the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health. While we fully support the growing recognition of NCDs as a global health priority, we note with deep concern the omission of oral health from the Zero Draft.

As governments and institutions prepare for the first reading of the Political Declaration on 5 June, we call for the European Union and its Member States to echo the efforts of the World Health Organisation (WHO) towards better oral health and lead by example by:

• Championing the inclusion of oral health in the final Political Declaration at the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, and signalling a long-term commitment to a comprehensive approach to NCDs toward the 2027 UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage;
• Driving the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Oral Health (2023–2030) and turning global commitments into national and regional action;
• Encouraging all EU Member States to deliver on the 2024 Bangkok Declaration: No Health Without Oral Health and to integrate oral health into all relevant public health policies and frameworks.

Oral conditions affect 3.7 billion people, nearly half the world’s population, and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable and underserved communities. They are the most common and preventable NCDs, yet carry a significant societal and economic burden. Critically, they share common risk factors with other major NCDs – such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes – including tobacco use, unhealthy diets (notably excessive sugar intake), and alcohol use. Their exclusion undermines the ambition and comprehensiveness of the global NCD response and risks reinforcing a long-standing blind spot in global health policy.

The consequences of oral diseases extend far beyond the mouth. In the WHO European Region alone, untreated oral conditions cost an estimated €100 billion in healthcare expenditure and €95 billion in lost productivity each year. They also drive catastrophic out-of-pocket costs, disproportionately affecting lower-income families and deepening existing health and social inequalities.

Beyond the numbers, oral diseases are profoundly life-limiting. Conditions such as untreated tooth decay and gum disease cause persistent pain, stigma, and difficulties that interfere with daily life, restricting a person’s ability to eat, speak, learn, and work. These effects compound over a lifetime, eroding well-being from early childhood to old age. Other conditions, like aspiration pneumonia in frail older adults, remain largely unrecognised despite their impact on mortality rates and being preventable with better oral care. And while some, such as oral cancers, carry higher mortality risks, it is the widespread, preventable nature of oral diseases and their lasting impact on health, dignity, and opportunity that make their inclusion in the global NCD response both necessary and long overdue.

Together with our partners, the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe will work tirelessly up to the 4th UN High-Level Meeting and beyond to advocate, convene, and mobilise support to ensure that oral health is fully recognised as a vital component of general health and a stronger, more inclusive global NCD response.

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About the Platform
The Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe is a joint initiative of the Association for Dental Education in Europe, the Council of European Chief Dental Officers, the European Association of Dental Public Health, the European Federation of Periodontology, the Oral Health Foundation, and the Pan-European Region of the International Association for Dental Research. In addition to this core group of organisations, the Platform collaborates with 19 European oral health and health associations, which advocate as part of the oral health community on a variety of issues. As the ‘go-to’ umbrella representative of leading oral health organisations, our shared goal is to create a common European approach towards improved oral health outcomes through policy, research, education, promotion, and access to care.