Oral Health in Somalia: Unmasking a Neglected Dimension of Public Health

Oral health is a fundamental but neglected component of public health, with important consequences for nutrition, communication, dignity, quality of life, and noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention. In Somalia, oral health remains poorly integrated into health policy and service delivery within a context shaped by health-system fragility, displacement, humanitarian pressures, and limited workforce capacity. This perspective synthesizes available Somalia-specific evidence alongside modeled national estimates and relevant regional evidence to examine the burden, determinants, access barriers, and policy gaps surrounding oral health. It identifies major knowledge gaps, particularly the absence of comprehensive nationally representative oral health surveillance and limited evidence among rural, displaced, and other underserved populations. The article's contribution is to distinguish documented Somali evidence from regional inference while situating oral health within the country's broader universal health coverage, NCD, and humanitarian priorities. Strengthening surveillance, integrating essential oral health services into primary and humanitarian care, expanding preventive programs, and improving workforce and policy capacity are necessary to reduce avoidable oral disease and inequity in Somalia.