Eating coconut directly including shell

Dr. Rajeev Basapathy, volunteer at ACCORD and SOCHARA, will be presenting a seminar titled “Eating a coconut directly including the shell with few teeth.”

A brief description of the seminar is given below:

Oral health is as important as any other health issue. People start their day with an activity related to the hygiene of the teeth and some also end with it. These two events contribute to the day’s activities. Speaking, smiling, chewing, in some cases physical assault too is directly contributed by healthy oral health tissues. While important for vital functions, oral health is often forgotten in wider public health discussions. Perhaps, its very anatomic location hidden behind the curtain of lips might be the reason. It also has the recognition of being one of the most commodified health issues, thus having social and economic implications.

In this talk, Rajeev presents the case of how oral health remains a neglected public health issue in India and reflecting on his experiences working and interacting with various stakeholders. He will also present his ethnographic account of how oral health inequalities are situated in the lives of the Gudalur Adivasis looking through the lens of local health traditions. He will take the audience through a mix of photos, tables with little data and mostly stories of how he has evolved understanding oral health in the bigger picture of health and development.

You are invited to attend the seminar in person or via Zoom using the link below: https://zoom.us/j/701662546