“..With the goals of Health for All, health is seen as a significant “quality of life” issue, and as a resource for everyday living. Taking this fact into consideration, schools are widely regarded as important settings for promoting health, as they reach over 1 billion children worldwide and, through them, school staff, families and the community as a whole.”

Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, First regional conference on health-promoting schools in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic (2007)

This site provides a regional platform on health-promoting schools. The main goal is to provide Member States with information and tools to strengthen the health-promoting school initiative in the Region and build partnerships.

What is a health-promoting school?

Intercountry meeting of oral health focal points, Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, 31 May–2 June 2001

WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Community Oral Health Department, Dental Public Health Programme in the School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Teheran, WHO Collaborating Centre, is organizing an intercountry meeting of oral health focal points in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran from 31 May to 2 June 2001. During the meeting participants will discuss barriers to oral health that limit access and prevent equitable oral health care from reaching all populations in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, including:

• Policy support and legislation

• Limited number of dental care professionals

• Escalating cost of dental acre

• Cultural, social and gender barriers

• Poor quality of health care

• Others.

At the meeting, participants will review  a framework for oral health policy in the Region and countries will develop plans of action to operationalize the framework in their country.  

The objectives of the meeting are to: 

• review oral health programmes in countries of the Region;

• agree on a mechanism through which a core group from among national oral health programme managers provide technical support to countries in oral health promotion; and

• discuss and develop a future course of action for promoting oral health in the Region.