CRS Seminar: Beyond Emergency Care: Integrating Oral Health into Refugee Health Systems
October 6, 2026
10:00am - 11:30am (Toronto)
This is a virtual event
Zoom link: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/fnTZno1BS-2zLy-UbItnMA
Guest speaker: Mannat Tiwana, CRS Affiliated Scholar
Oral diseases are among the most common health conditions affecting displaced populations, yet oral health remains largely absent from humanitarian health policies, surveillance systems, and primary care delivery. This seminar will examine the growing evidence linking oral health with chronic diseases, maternal health, mental health, and quality of life in refugee populations. It will also explore why oral health has remained overlooked within humanitarian responses despite its significant health and social consequences.
Drawing on implementation science and global health systems research, the seminar will present a practical framework for integrating oral health into refugee and primary healthcare systems. Topics will include oral health screening within primary care, task-sharing with community health workers, referral pathways, health information systems, and policy opportunities for strengthening equitable access to care. The session will conclude with an overview of an implementation toolkit currently under development and invite discussion on how researchers, practitioners, and policymakers can collaboratively advance oral health within refugee health systems.
Mannat Tiwana, BDS, MPH, is an NIH Fogarty Global Health Fellow (2026–2027) and a public health researcher whose work focuses on health systems strengthening, implementation science, and global health equity. Her research examines the integration of oral health into primary care and humanitarian health systems, with particular emphasis on refugee populations, noncommunicable diseases, and health policy. She is currently developing an implementation toolkit to support the integration of oral health into refugee health services through evidence-based, scalable, and policy-oriented approaches.
