Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Agenda (GOHIRA)

Professor Williams leads the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Agenda (GOHIRA) initiative principal purpose of which is to contribute to the mission of WHO by setting the agenda for research that will, if properly implemented, effect a measurable reduction in oral health inequalities, both within and between countries, in a generation.  The initiative contributes to the goal of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health to close the gap in health equity in a generation.

The GOHIRA programme has established an international community of experts with these objectives:

  1. To formulate priorities for research and a coherent research agenda to reducing inequalities in oral health within and between countries, and to close the gap between research and the practical implementation of research findings. 
  2. To develop strategies for integrating oral health research with research in other fields on the social determinants of general health and inequalities in health. 
  3. To develop an action plan to achieve the realization of the GOHIRA research agenda.
  4. To develop frameworks to enable the global oral health research community to place research on social determinants of health and reducing inequalities in oral health high on their agendas.
  5. To advocate to research funders that they should support research not only on the determinants of general health, including oral health, but also their inter-relationships, thus enhancing the understanding of inequalities in health and strategies to reduce them efficiently and effectively.