26–29 November 2024 |Bangkok, Thailand. WHO Member States, UN Agencies and non-State actors met at the WHO Global Oral Health Meeting in Bangkok to reaffirm the commitment to the implementation of the Global oral health action plan 2023–2030. As an outcome, representatives from more than 110 countries adopted the Bangkok Declaration: “No Health Without Oral Health” with a strong commitment to mercury free dentistry and phasing out dental amalgam.
The WHO Global Oral Health Meeting took place in preparation for the Fourth United Nations High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York, September 2025. Main goals were to accelerate and scale up national efforts to prevent and control NCDs, reaffirm commitments to support the implementation of the Global oral health action plan 2023–2030 and underpin the ambition towards Universal Health Coverage for Oral Health by 2030.
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry was invited and represented by Administrative Vice President, Florian Schulze, who advocated for actions to achieve the global target 1.2 for environmentally sound oral health care of the global oral health action plan: By 2030, 90% of countries have implemented measures to phase down the use of dental amalgam as stipulated in the Minamata Convention on Mercury or have phased it out.
Besides the occasion to feed into the final declaration, the meeting offered the opportunity to exchange bilaterally with chief dental officers from over 110 countries and discuss the national progress in phasing out the use of dental amalgam. A request to host a side event on the Global Transition to Mercury-Free Dentistry was not granted.
WHO itself presented its controversial GEF7 project to phase down the use of dental amalgam in Thailand, Senegal and Uruguay. The 3-year project was launched in March 2023 and is co-financed by the largest remaining amalgam manufacturer SDI, the amalgam separator industry and the dentists’ lobby, which publicly advocates for keeping the use of amalgam instead of phasing it out.
The World Alliance had protested at the highest level against this project and called on WHO to better take action for the implementation of the required Children’s Amendment of the Minamata Convention to protect children under 15 years, pregnant and breastfeeding women from the harm of mercury use in dentistry, instead of promoting the use of separators.
The use of separators is extremely inefficient, as it only filters amalgam which actually passes the separator and most developing countries lack the infrastructure for the disposal of hazardous waste. Resources should better be invested in the use of mercury-free filling materials.
Also Ludovic Bernaudat, head of the knowledge and risk unit at UNEP, highlighted during the plenary session of the meeting that the Children’s Amendment is still not implemented in more than 60 countries even though it entered into force by September 2023 and called for action.
This demand was emphasised by the Bangkok Declaration which includes a strong commitment to protect the environment:
“Establish or strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration to phase down, or phase out where feasible, the use of dental amalgam in accordance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Promote preventive, less invasive, climate-resilient, environmentally sustainable and safe oral healthcare by adopting mercury-free and eco-friendly products, minimizing the use of singleuse plastics and non-biodegradable materials, managing waste responsibly, using natural resources efficiently, and reducing carbon emissions.”
During the Bangkok meeting a global coalition on oral health was further formed, including a platform of commitments from Member States and partners to support the implementation of the Global oral health action plan 2023–2030. The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry became partner of the coalition and is now pushing together with WHO for the implementation of the Minamata Convention.
Further Information:
👉 WHO global oral health meeting: Universal health coverage for oral health by 2030
👉 Bangkok Declaration – No Health Without Oral Health
👉 Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030
👉 GEF 7 Project in Thailand, Senegal and Uruguay: Phasing-down the Use of Dental Amalgam
