NZ - Fluoridation endorsed

Fluoridation endorsed by Hutt health board
PAUL EASTON
Two former Lower Hutt mayors have been accused of holding a health board to ransom during a tetchy debate on fluoridation.

Hutt Valley District Health Board endorsed fluoridation yesterday as an effective way of fighting tooth decay. Local drinking water supplies already fluoridated should remain so, a position statement said. "Where local supplies are not fluoridated, local authorities are encouraged to implement water fluoridation programmes as soon as possible."

During the debate, board member Ken Laban said the "articulate, informed and intelligent" anti-fluoridation lobby was being taken too lightly. "They're turning up for a gunfight and we're turning up with water pistols."

Health board member David Ogden, a former Lower Hutt mayor, said he was ambivalent about fluoridation. "But the Ministry of Health has been weak and our presentations have been weak."

Another former mayor, John Terris, said the report played down the anti-fluoridation lobby and lacked balance. "This is not a group of lunatic fringe people.".....................

I'm pleased to hear that we are not lunatics.