UK - Southampton Daily Echo letter

The law should support us
I REFER to the contribution by Olga Senior in 'In My View' and would draw attention to something which the Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, SC SHA appears to have overlooked. Adding fluoride to the water supplies of an entire region to combat poor dental hygiene amounts to the enforced medication of everyone in the area. Since I live in the designated area this is clearly an infringement of my right to choose what medicine I want to take for myself or give to my family or indeed decide if I need to take it at all.
Personally I wouldn't choose to have fluoride in my drinking water. My children are local and have never had a single tooth cavity Why would I agree to anyone adding fluoride to my drinking water when my experience proves to me it isn't necessary? I know that poor dental health in Southampton affects many families in the deprived areas but the real culprit for the epidemic of dental disease in Southampton children's teeth is irregular brushing and poor diet, especially too much sugar often, I think, unscrupulously hidden for commercial reasons in processed foods and fizzy drinks.
We all know that PCT has an obligation to improve the dental health of the city's children but treating the symptoms of poor diet and poor oral hygiene by adding fluoride to the drinking water is a desperate measure. It isn't necessary for people to know much about fluoride to have a view as Olga Senior believes.
The issue really is; what right in natural justice does the PCT have to tamper with the drinking water for the wholesale medication of the population? It isn't enough to say the SHA has the law on its side. It appears the PCT is looking to rescue the statistical situation regarding dental health in the city and is trusting to technology to provide the answer. My experience says I don't need to agree to that and the majority agree with me. The law should support us;
EDWIN LEACH, Southampton.