Portsmouth Primary Care Trust to decide

Health chiefs to vote on fluoride
NHS bosses are set for a crunch vote to decide whether to spend £25,000 checking if fluoride can be put into the drinking water supply.
If they opt to go ahead, experts will test to see how easy it is to add the substance to the water in such a way that it is only piped into homes in districts where people have approved the move.The decision will be taken by Portsmouth health chiefs at an extra meeting toward the end of the month although opinion among bosses is divided.Before going ahead with the feasibility study the board of Portsmouth Primary Care Trust must decide whether putting fluoride in the water supply is the best single measure to boost dental health, particularly among children.The chemical, which is in most toothpaste and naturally occurs in water in many parts of the country,strengthens tooth enamel.If they decide it is, and the study finds it can be done, there would then have to be a major public consultation before fluoridation could go ahead.
nicholas.brooks@thenews.co.uk
01 August 2006