IFDH

Every three years, in conjunction with the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene, the governing body of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists (IFDH), the House of Delegates (HOD) meets to conduct the business of the Federation. Currently IFDH has a membership of twenty six countries and each member country is allowed to send two delegates to sit on the House of Delegates.

The formation of IFDH took place on 28 June 1986 in Oslo, Norway. The initiative to establish IFDH came from the International Liaison Committee on Dental Hygiene which was established in 1973 by a group of dental hygienists from USA, UK, Japan, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.  Their vision was to form an international organisation which would unite dental hygienists globally.  The founding President of IFDH who led this initiative was Wilma Motley.

The IFDH provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge and resources. It has also helped establish draft curricula for dental hygiene education programmes, established links with other global health organisations such as WHO, FDI and IADR and publishes a peer reviewed scientific journal 'The International Journal of Dental Hygiene'. It also has a website: www.ifdh.org

The function of the HOD is to determine and agree goals which can be globally aspired to.  Currently there are six goals which IFDH aim to achieve:

1. Strengthen the professional profile of dental hygiene worldwide
2. Increase membership in all eligible categories
3. Strengthen collaboration with other organisations
4. Support the visibility of dental hygiene education
5. Support the development of research by dental hygienists
6. Strengthen communication within the IFDH

In order to achieve these goals, members of the HOD are sub-divided into various committees who, over the following three years prior to the next HOD meeting, will liaise with each other as well as collaborate with other organisations in order to achieve the objective of the goal. For example, the Research Committee is responsible for achieving goal 5 by providing information on issues such as funding opportunities for research or access to research methodology. This information is then published on the IFDH website.

It is very clear to see that what the profession strives for at the national level is what the profession is striving for at the global level. In the UK we are fortunate to enjoy the autonomy we have as a result of the recent section 60 order.  We should embrace the opportunity to share our significant achievements with our colleagues in other countries such as Austria, who are still striving for recognition, but we can also learn from other countries such as The Netherlands who have pushed the boundaries even further and really can practise independently.

They say that no man is an island.  There is a world out there - let's participate in it!