The urgency of ensuring equitable and improved access to oral health care during the Coronavirus Disease ۲۰۱۹ pandemic: The case of Peru

The ۷۴th World Health Assembly has recently approved theresolution called “Achieving better oral health as part of theuniversal health coverage and non-communicable diseaseagendas towards ۲۰۳۰”۱. In this framework, the GeneralDirector of the World Health Organization (WHO) was askedto develop a global strategy to address oral diseases as part ofan action plan to be executed in ۲۰۲۳ with the bestinterventions in the fight against these diseases that affect morethan ۳.۵ billion people۲.The resolution on oral health recommends a change indental care from the traditional curative approach to one thatis preventive and emphasizes the need for timely,comprehensive, and inclusive dental care within the primaryhealth care system, in light of the great inequalities present inthe marginalized and low-income populations, especially inlow- and middle-income countries۲. In this sense, the memberstates of the WHO have a difficult mission to achieve in termsof guaranteeing access to dental services, which have beenseriously affected by the COVID-۱۹ pandemic due to thecollapse of health services, the restriction of oral care tourgencies and emergencies, and fear of contagion by thepopulation۳. This complex scenario may have affected lowandmiddle-income countries to a greater extent, increasinginequalities in access to oral health services within them. Thisis especially important in Peru, which is one of the countrieshardest hit by the pandemic۴.