80th UNGA Side Event | Time to Act on Sugars: Advancing Health Equity & Tackling NCDs with a Focus on Oral Diseases
- Foilsithe: 23 Meán Fómhair 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 23 Meán Fómhair 2025
Ireland is pleased to support our colleagues in Malaysia and France at the 80th UNGA Side Event | Time to Act on Sugars: Advancing Health Equity & Tackling NCDs with a Focus on Oral Diseases , being held at the United Nations Headquarters, Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
Co-organised by Malaysia, Ireland, France and the World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Western Pacific, and Co-sponsored by Egypt, Philippines, Thailand, FDI World Dental Federation, NCD Alliance & VillageReach, this Side Event deal with the significant impact of sugar as a shared risk factor for oral diseases, and other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
The Chief Dental Officer, Dr. Dympna Kavanagh, welcomed the event, which comes on foot of an important milestone, where for the first time Oral Diseases are included alongside other NCDs in the draft Political Declaration for the 4th UN High Level Meeting on NCDs. Speaking of the event, Dr. Kavanagh stated:
“The Department of Health - Ireland is very committed to public health and has been a leading force in supporting public health policies to tackle NCDs starting from indoor smoking and, more recently, in the area of alcohol labelling. We have an opportunity to show Ireland's continued commitment to tackling oral diseases, again emphasising the root risk factor: sugar.”
Special thanks to our colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and our Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, for their hard work in ensuring oral health was prioritised in Ireland’s position, reflecting Ireland’s commitment to improve oral health.