Article Author: Speakers raise alarm at high number of dental practitioners lacking adequate qualifications
Media Source: Daily Times (Pakistan)
Date: 7 August 2018
On 4 August in Karachi, the Aga Khan University hosted a workshop called ‘Role of Dentists and Value of Dental Hygienists’, during which health experts stated there were approximately 40,000 non-qualified dental practitioners in Pakistan. The dentist to population ratio in the country is 1:1,305,811, whereas according to World Health Organisation (WHO), the recommended ratio is 1:75,000. In 2015, the Aga Khan University Medical College launched a two-year Diploma in Dental Hygiene programme. To date, AKU has graduated 22 dental hygienists from the programme. The AKU now offers a two-year Associate of Science degree in Dental Hygiene that is recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.
