20 Asian countries join WHO’s 100-Day Sprint to expand essential oral health care
Twenty countries and areas across Asia are working to strengthen access to essential dental services through the World Health Organization's 100-Day Sprint initiative. WHO reported new progress on the programme on October 5, 2026, following a meeting of national oral health leaders in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
The initiative involves countries and areas from the WHO Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions and is designed to help governments develop essential oral health benefit packages that can be incorporated into national universal health coverage plans.
Countries are reviewing barriers to dental care
Participating countries have analysed obstacles in four areas: service delivery, the health workforce, access to essential medicines and health products, and health financing.
They are using WHO's Service Package Delivery and Implementation Platform to review existing systems and refine proposed changes to their national oral health benefit packages.
The participating countries and areas include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
The programme has reached its midpoint
The 16th Asian Chief Dental Officers Meeting, held from September 27 to 29 in Malaysia, marked the midpoint of the 100-Day Sprint. National oral health leaders, WHO representatives, collaborating centres and development partners reviewed progress and proposed practical responses to implementation problems.
During the remaining part of the programme, participating countries will continue refining their proposed benefit packages and calculating their costs.
WHO says the work supports its Global Strategy and Action Plan on Oral Health 2023–2030 and is intended to integrate essential oral health services more closely with primary health care.
