Dublin, Ireland (8 September 2007) African dental educators attending the 2007 Global Congress on Dental Education III in Dublin, Ireland held the inaugural meeting of the African Dental Education Association (AfDEA).

Sixteen delegates from 10 African countries including Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe participated in this historic event.

AfDEA’s mission is to promote advancement in dental education, training and research with the ultimate objective of improving oral and general health, especially in the African region.  AfDEA serves as a forum for the initiation and dissemination of ideas in the field of dental education, training and research, and fosters communication among dental educators in Africa and other parts of the world.

“The launch of the African Dental Education Association is an important step in raising standards in dental education within Africa – and more importantly to improving oral health within our region,” said Professor Tshepo Gugushe, Director of the School of Dentistry at the University of Limpopo in South Africa, who was elected AfDEA President at the meeting.

Also elected to leadership positions were Dr. Papa Ibrahima Ngom, Assistant Professor of Orthodontics at the University Cheikj Anta Diop in Senegal who will serve as Executive Secretary and Dr. Lorna Carneiro of the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences School of Dentistry in Tanzania who will serve as Treasurer.

The importance of the work of AfDEA was noted by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, who extended her warm wishes to the new organization during her address to the Global Congress, as well as by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who referred to the development of AfDEA in her opening address to the Global Congress on Dental Education III.   

The Constitution of AfDEA, which was adopted at the Dublin meeting, set out the following goals for the organization:

1. Promote the advancement of dental education.
   
2. Provide an organized, unified, and informed forum for the determination of African and international policies in dental education.
   
3. Promote, co-ordinate and monitor quality assurance in dental education and training in Africa.
   
4. Promote the exchange of staff, students and programmes among dental education and training institutions in Africa.
   
5. Stimulate, encourage and facilitate cooperative effort and mutual assistance among dental educators in Africa.
   
6. Stimulate the production, exchange and dissemination of ideas and information among dental educators, educators of other health care professions, and educators in the community of higher education.
   
7. Establish and maintain liaison with appropriate governmental and non-governmental agencies that may further the development, support and improvement of dental education, research and service.
   
8. Provide necessary African link with other regional and multinational organisations concerned with dental education.

AfDEA joins other national and regional dental education associations as a member of the International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA).  Dr. Johann de Vries, Immediate Past President of IFDEA noted the importance of this event for the global dental education community.  “For years, individual African educators have been doing outstanding work, but geographic, socio-political and infrastructure constraints have limited the impact of these individual efforts.  Now, through the combined efforts of AfDEA and IFDEA, dental education associations across Africa and around the world will be able to share knowledge and collaborate in ways that could not have been imagined before. The result will be improved oral health worldwide.”