Australia - Fluoride explained at forum

Calls for a public forum on the WA Health Department’s decision to fluoridate Kununurra’s water supply have been answered.

The department will hold an informal community information session to be held at Kununurra Leisure Centre on September 8 from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Residents can attend at any time during the two-hour window.

Drinking water in Kununurra is set to be fluoridated from the end of 2017 to bring the town in line with other regional and metro areas.

Kununurra is one of the last non-fluoridated areas in WA, with more than 90 per cent of the population, having fluoridated water.

At the Shire’s AGM of Electors in February, a motion put forward by resident Danny Carter requested the council to write to the Health Department to ask for a “halt” on “plans to fluoridate water in Kununurra” until a community forum could be held was passed.

The Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley wrote to the State health minister in April to request a public information session.

Kununurra was originally considered too small to qualify for a fluoridation plant, but in September 2010, a public meeting was held at Kununurra to discuss the possibility of adding fluoride to the water supply.