SPEAKER of Parliament Dr Jiko Luveni has been awarded the honorary fellowship award from the Council of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.
Dr Luveni becomes one of only three women alongside Princess of Wales, the late Lady Diana Spencer and New Zealand Paediatric Dental Specialist, Professor Bernadette Drummond, to have been conferred the honorary fellowship.
She said she was honoured to be a recipient of the award alongside Lady Diana.
“I can’t believe this. This is a great honour for me and I owe it to the current serving dentists,” Dr Luveni said.
“At that time in the 1970s, dental health awareness was most needed as a lot of people didn’t take good care of their teeth. There was more emphasis needed on tooth decay prevention so I made it my business to include dental care in the public health service. “Whenever the public health team reach out to the communities, I also tagged along to create awareness about dentistry.”
Dr Luveni said she facilitated the oral health survey in 1985 in a bid to keep records of dental health. “Even though I switched my career path, it didn’t change the way I felt about dentistry as it’s a part of me. This award has brought dentistry yet again to the limelight and I’m happy to continue this legacy.”
She added the award would now be a motivating and inspiring factor to present and aspiring dentists. “I would also like to encourage them to always make use of every career opportunities coming their way for the purpose of further developing dentistry.”
