Indian Dental Association, Haleon award scholarships to 143 dental students to pursue BDS

NEW DELHI: Haleon, makers of Sensodyne, along with Indian Dental Association (IDA) awarded 143 meritorious students from underprivileged communities across 21 states and over 130 cities with the ’Sensodyne IDA Shining Star Scholarship’ to pursue Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) at the Oral Health Innovation Conclave (OHIC) in Delhi.

“OHIC is a first-of-its-kind national event organised by Indian Dental Association (IDA) focusing on innovations, entrepreneurship, and research in oral healthcare,” the official statement said.

L Swasticharan, additional deputy director general of health services, was the Guest of Honour, The scholarship programme for BDS students is a CSR initiative by Haleon India. Over 2,000 applications were received; among which 143 students were shortlisted.

Under this programme, “an amount of more than Rs 6 crore will be disbursed among these 143 students to support their academic and living expenses incurred during their 4-year BDS programme. Each of these students will be provided with a financial assistance of Rs 1,05,000 per year for 4 years of their BDS course.”

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The initiative was launched to address the disparities around the dentist – population ratio, the official statement said. “With the mission to facilitate underprivileged and exceptional dental students bring their dreams to life, Haleon India launched this programme in partnership with IDA and Buddy4Study (B42), NGO in July 2022,” it added.

Lt General Satish R Iyer, director general dental services), Puneet Girdhar, president of IDA, Ashok Dhoble, secretary general IDA, Meera Verma, chairperson for DDS and Vandana Agarwal, organizing secretary DDS were also present during the event among other dignitaries.

Congratulating the winners, Ashok Dhoble, secretary general of Indian Dental Association said: “The Indian Dental Association (IDA) has always been in the forefront to support dental college students and has been their friend, advocate and guide. As the knowledge partner to the Sensodyne IDA Shining tar Scholarship Programme, IDA wholeheartedly supports this initiative by Haleon India. IDA believes that this project would not only touch the lives of the financially less privileged, meritorious students but also fulfil their family’s dreams. IDA is committed to handhold every student until their goals are achieved.”

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