Media Release

27 July 2007

Ministry releases Oral Health Research Fund

The Ministry of Health is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with the New Zealand Dental Association to launch the Oral Health Research Fund.

The New Zealand Dental Assocation will distribute funding of up to $100,000 per annum over three years towards short term oral health research projects.

"There is very little New Zealand specific oral health research focussed on oral health promotion or on the way services are delivered, and limited evaluation of oral health interventions in current use which is hindering informed policy and programme development at both the Ministry and sector levels," said the Ministry of Health's Chief Advisor Oral Health Dr Robin Whyman.

The Ministry requires a fund management organisation to allocate (and evaluate) the funds to short-term projects each year, throughout New Zealand, to stimulate such research into and evaluation of oral health programmes that further the vision of “Good Oral Health for All, for Life”.

The funding may be used to improve evaluation of existing projects, to support the evaluation of new or current prevention and treatment interventions, the evaluation of models of service delivery and for scoping new services. Money will also be available for literature reviews, and the evaluation and analysis of National Survey data.

Dr David Crum, Executive Director of the Association, expressed his congratulations to the Ministry for “this cooperative initiative, for the trust that they were placing in the expertise of the Association, and for the emphasis they were placing on oral health research".

Priority will be given to projects that target one or more of the four priority groups identified in ‘Good Oral Health for All, for Life’, which include children and adolescents, people of all ages with physical, intellectual, behavioural, or cognitive disabilities, or who are medically compromised; People experiencing inequalities in outcome (e.g. Maori, Pacific and low-income populations); and older adults.

The closing date for applications for the first funding round will be 30 September 2007. Applications and guidelines are available from Shirley Hastings at the New Zealand Dental Association (shirley@nzda.org.nz or by phone: 09 5242778).

ENDS

For further information, please contact Media Advisor, Michael Flyger tel 04 496 2265