Australia - Fluoride fuss won't wash, says BlighSue Lappeman
Fluoride fuss won't wash, says BlighSue Lappeman
06Dec07
THERE will be no referendum, no discussions, no debate -- the Gold Coast will have fluoride introduced into its water supply from next year.
Premier Anna Bligh yesterday ignored decades of superstitions about the health impacts of fluoride by announcing her Government would legislate to force councils to introduce the controversial additive.
Fluoride will be put into the water supply at Molendinar and Mudgeeraba plants by the end of 2008 and will be gradually rolled out across the State until 80 per cent of Queenslanders will be drinking fluoridated water within two years and 95 per cent by 2012.
Ms Bligh said fluoridated water had been proven to reduce tooth decay by up to 40 per cent and dismissed the fears from those opposed to fluoride as old superstitions.
"It is time to stop being superstitious and to look at the science. It is compelling evidence that fluoride works," she said. "All of the nonsense about fluoride making you glow in the dark belongs to the Queensland of the last century.
"This is a modern state, this is a state based on science, this is a state where we are going to put children first." She said Queensland was the only state without fluoride in its water and its children had the worst teeth in the country.
Queensland six-year-olds have nearly 30 per cent more decay in their baby teeth than the national average with a similar result in their permanent teeth by age 12. In Townsville, where fluoride has been in drinking water since the 1960s, the dental health of children was 60 per cent better than children in the southeast."We have been too shy of this issue in the past, it is time for us to act," said Ms Bligh.
"There is no evidence anywhere in Australia, where we have had fluoride for 30 and 40years, to demonstrate that there is any health problem or poses any sort of risk."
The Government offered $6 million to councils to introduce fluoride themselves but after two years no council had taken up the offer.
It will now provide $35 million to pay for the capital costs of the introduction and will require councils to contribute to the operating costs, estimated to add up to about $1.50 a year per person.
"This is a nominal cost when compared to what families could save in dental bills," said Ms Bligh.Legislation would be introduced into Parliament next year to force councils to comply, she said. Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the $35 million was a great investment of taxpayers' money.
"Queenslanders have the worst oral health of any of the states in Australia and the very simple reason for it is that, unlike every other state and territory in this country, we don't fluoridate our water supplies," he said.
Fluoridation involves a small amount of fluoride being added to top up the natural levels already in the water.This equates to between 0.6 and 0.9 parts of fluoride per million parts of water -- roughly one drop in a bathtub of water.
06Dec07
THERE will be no referendum, no discussions, no debate -- the Gold Coast will have fluoride introduced into its water supply from next year.
Premier Anna Bligh yesterday ignored decades of superstitions about the health impacts of fluoride by announcing her Government would legislate to force councils to introduce the controversial additive.
Fluoride will be put into the water supply at Molendinar and Mudgeeraba plants by the end of 2008 and will be gradually rolled out across the State until 80 per cent of Queenslanders will be drinking fluoridated water within two years and 95 per cent by 2012.
Ms Bligh said fluoridated water had been proven to reduce tooth decay by up to 40 per cent and dismissed the fears from those opposed to fluoride as old superstitions.
"It is time to stop being superstitious and to look at the science. It is compelling evidence that fluoride works," she said. "All of the nonsense about fluoride making you glow in the dark belongs to the Queensland of the last century.
"This is a modern state, this is a state based on science, this is a state where we are going to put children first." She said Queensland was the only state without fluoride in its water and its children had the worst teeth in the country.
Queensland six-year-olds have nearly 30 per cent more decay in their baby teeth than the national average with a similar result in their permanent teeth by age 12. In Townsville, where fluoride has been in drinking water since the 1960s, the dental health of children was 60 per cent better than children in the southeast."We have been too shy of this issue in the past, it is time for us to act," said Ms Bligh.
"There is no evidence anywhere in Australia, where we have had fluoride for 30 and 40years, to demonstrate that there is any health problem or poses any sort of risk."
The Government offered $6 million to councils to introduce fluoride themselves but after two years no council had taken up the offer.
It will now provide $35 million to pay for the capital costs of the introduction and will require councils to contribute to the operating costs, estimated to add up to about $1.50 a year per person.
"This is a nominal cost when compared to what families could save in dental bills," said Ms Bligh.Legislation would be introduced into Parliament next year to force councils to comply, she said. Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the $35 million was a great investment of taxpayers' money.
"Queenslanders have the worst oral health of any of the states in Australia and the very simple reason for it is that, unlike every other state and territory in this country, we don't fluoridate our water supplies," he said.
Fluoridation involves a small amount of fluoride being added to top up the natural levels already in the water.This equates to between 0.6 and 0.9 parts of fluoride per million parts of water -- roughly one drop in a bathtub of water.
posted by Bill at
9:51 AM
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