Compulsive Water Fluoridation Is Dangerous and Immoral

Greens today slated controversial Government plans to fluoridate national water supplies, claiming that medicating people without permission breaches European Human Rights conventions.Philip Booth, a Stroud District councillor, spokesperson for the Green party and Secretary and a founding member of the Safe Water Campaign for Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire said: "In addition to the negative health effects of water fluoridation, this is an issue of medical ethics. Fluoridating water is essentially medicating people without their permission, and the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine distinctly states that individuals have the right not to be medicated without their consent."Philip Booth said: "Poor dental health is a complex public health issue. The root causes are poor diet and inadequate dental hygiene. Typically the government seems more concerned with dangerous knee-jerk action and to be seen 'doing something', rather than confronting the real causes of the problem. While we continue to feed refined sugar to our children in schools, efforts to reduce tooth decay will be in vain."Philip Booth said: "The health case for fluoride has been far from made. Claims about the effectiveness of fluoride simply do not stand up to close scrutiny. While topical fluoride on teeth does help prevent tooth decay, there is simply no good evidence that systemic fluoride does. Fluoride is a known poison if ingested over a long period of time, even in small daily doses. Its consumption has been linked to a range of medical afflictions including severe skeletal problems, fluorosis (discolouration of the teeth), osteosarcoma (a rare form of bone cancer) in boys, and problems affecting the central nervous system.Philip Booth added: "Most European countries have managed to reduce levels of tooth decay in recent years, in almost all cases without fluoridation. The Green Party wants to see a programme of education for children and adults regarding proper dental hygiene and a healthy diet, a health warning on all sources of fluoride intended for human consumption, and a ban on the fluoridation of drinking water."Philip Booth, Press Officer, Gloucestershire Green Party.Printed by, promoted by and on behalf of the Gloucestershire Green Party, Lark Rise, Bread Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Glos. GL6 6EL Telephone 01453 755451 E-mail: press@glosgreenparty.org.ukWebsite: http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/