The Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd has established a new Oral Health Centre of Excellence in New Delhi, as part of a global network of oral health clinics that Colgate is developing with the backing of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Child Dental Health Taskforce.

The New Delhi Centre will implement child and parent education programs, provide critically needed preventive dental services, conduct continuing education training for local dental health professionals and distribute one million dental health packs containing a toothpaste and a toothbrush, over five years, said a company release.

The Taskforce was launched in UK in September 2005 by 40 Ministry of Health chief dental officers and leading dental authorities with the aim of significantly improving child oral health worldwide and eradicating dental cavities in children within the next 20 years.

According to Professor Raman Bedi, Director of the Global Child Dental Health Taskforce and co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre and Kings College London, the partnership with Colgate and its health promotion activities in India and around the world would play a vital role in helping to reach the goals of the taskforce".

According to a National Oral Health Survey in India supported by Colgate, tooth decay is widespread among 54 per cent of 12 year olds and 63 per cent among 15 year olds while gum diseases are prevalent in 57 per cent of 12 year olds and 68 per cent of 15 year olds.