NZ - Call to drop fluoride bid in Christchurch
Call to drop fluoride bid in Christchurch
By KAMALA HAYMAN - The Press | Thursday, 5 April 2007
Attempts to get Christchurch water fluoridated should be abandoned, says a health board member. Outspoken Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) member Robin Booth has lodged a formal notice of motion calling for the board to "cease all attempts to try and fluoridate water supplies in our district, including Christchurch".
The health board has repeatedly called for the city's water supply to be fluoridated, but the Christchurch City Council has refused to consider it.
Mayor Garry Moore has previously said he supported fluoridation but the people of Christchurch would not allow it. Booth said the board had been told of a proposal to hold a referendum on fluoridation in Christchurch, during the October local body election, though health managers yesterday denied any such proposal.
The city council did not respond to questions on the issue. Booth's motion, to be debated at a full board meeting on April 13, follows last month's referendum on fluoridating Ashburton's town water supply. Almost 55 per cent voted against fluoridation.
Booth said the health board spent $47,000 in Ashburton encouraging residents to vote for fluoridation and another such campaign in Christchurch would be "a big waste of time and money". Booth, who had been campaigning against fluoridated water for more than six years, said fluoride "interferes with your thinking process", made bones more brittle, and increased cancer rates. "Mass medication is against everything modern medicine stands for. It is abhorrent in my opinion."
CDHB school and community dental service clinical director Martin Lee said Booth was incorrect "on every single count" concerning the side-effects of fluoridated water.
"The World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health and other health ministries around the world all take contrary views to Mr Booth."
Lee said fluoridating water was cost-effective. "In Christchurch, it would cost $400,000 to fluoridate the water and it would save $4 million a year in dental treatment." Doing nothing "is not an option", he said.
Public health general manager Evon Currie said no referendum was planned for Christchurch, nor was one recommended by the health board as they usually favoured the anti-fluoride lobby.
She said a health board poll had found 56% of Ashburton residents supported fluoridation – significantly more than those who turned out to vote in favour of it in the referendum.
There was no scientific evidence showing water fluoridation posed a danger, she said. "All the evidence-based research supports fluoridation as the most cost-effective and useful way to protect the oral health of our community."
The World Health Organisation's website says fluoridation of water supplies "is the most effective public health measure for the prevention of dental decay".
By KAMALA HAYMAN - The Press | Thursday, 5 April 2007
Attempts to get Christchurch water fluoridated should be abandoned, says a health board member. Outspoken Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) member Robin Booth has lodged a formal notice of motion calling for the board to "cease all attempts to try and fluoridate water supplies in our district, including Christchurch".
The health board has repeatedly called for the city's water supply to be fluoridated, but the Christchurch City Council has refused to consider it.
Mayor Garry Moore has previously said he supported fluoridation but the people of Christchurch would not allow it. Booth said the board had been told of a proposal to hold a referendum on fluoridation in Christchurch, during the October local body election, though health managers yesterday denied any such proposal.
The city council did not respond to questions on the issue. Booth's motion, to be debated at a full board meeting on April 13, follows last month's referendum on fluoridating Ashburton's town water supply. Almost 55 per cent voted against fluoridation.
Booth said the health board spent $47,000 in Ashburton encouraging residents to vote for fluoridation and another such campaign in Christchurch would be "a big waste of time and money". Booth, who had been campaigning against fluoridated water for more than six years, said fluoride "interferes with your thinking process", made bones more brittle, and increased cancer rates. "Mass medication is against everything modern medicine stands for. It is abhorrent in my opinion."
CDHB school and community dental service clinical director Martin Lee said Booth was incorrect "on every single count" concerning the side-effects of fluoridated water.
"The World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health and other health ministries around the world all take contrary views to Mr Booth."
Lee said fluoridating water was cost-effective. "In Christchurch, it would cost $400,000 to fluoridate the water and it would save $4 million a year in dental treatment." Doing nothing "is not an option", he said.
Public health general manager Evon Currie said no referendum was planned for Christchurch, nor was one recommended by the health board as they usually favoured the anti-fluoride lobby.
She said a health board poll had found 56% of Ashburton residents supported fluoridation – significantly more than those who turned out to vote in favour of it in the referendum.
There was no scientific evidence showing water fluoridation posed a danger, she said. "All the evidence-based research supports fluoridation as the most cost-effective and useful way to protect the oral health of our community."
The World Health Organisation's website says fluoridation of water supplies "is the most effective public health measure for the prevention of dental decay".
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