Council Leader assures debate on water fluoridation

Frances Roden, leader of Stroud District Council, in her reply to Rob Mehta, chair of the "Safe Water campaign for Gloucestershire", on questions about the dangerous effects of fluoridation, stated that if ever fluoridation of our water supplies in this area was proposed, the SDC would "consider their response very carefully".

Legally, the public have to be consulted before a Strategic Health Authority can require a water company to fluoridate water supplies and Frances Roden agreed that this would appear to strengthen the power of the SHA. In the Southampton area fluoridation has been proposed and now approved despite the fact that 72% of the population expressed opinions against fluoridation in the consultation process.

Rob Mehta, chair of "Safe Water Campaign for Gloucestershire", said:"We welcome the commitment by Frances Roden for a future debate if Stroud is threatened by water fluoridation and are confident that the local population will reject it when they understand what it means".

Frances also confirmed that at present there is no intention by the local PCT to request fluoridation of our water supplies.

Rob Mehta. chair of "Safe Water Campaign for Gloucestershire", said "Fluoridation is a government measure intended to try to reduce decay in children's teeth. Its main basis was the "York Review" of 2000 which suggested an improvement after fluoridation of about 15% {shown by some studies to be merely a delay of decay by about a year} but also admitting to 12% dental fluorosis {a psychologically disturbing discolouration of the teeth} serious enough to require expensive cosmetic treatment. There is also much evidence to suggest that fluoridation can have dangerous effects, especially to babies via bottle feeding. We should also have the human right to decide what medication we take into our bodies".

Rob Mehta added "Water fluoridation amounts to mass medication without consent".

All fifty one members of the SDC were circulated by the "Safe Water Campaign" with a number of disturbing questions about fluoridation.

Of the twelve replies received , 6 were from the Green Party, 4 from the Conservative Party, 2 from the Liberal Democrats, 0 from the Labour Party and 0 from independent councillors.
Nine of the twelve responses were against fluoridation including all Green Party members, whilst the other three councillors would like further investigation and discussion.

Rob Mehta, Chair, Safe Water Campaign, 47 Bisley Old Road, Stroud, GL5 1LY

BDA election nonsense

The British Dental Association has come out with their manifesto - see below the section that repeats much nonsense about fluoride eg:

- about Manchester and Birmingham - in fact the best areas for tooth health in the UK are not fluoridated at all. The quote by BDA is also misleading as it does not take into account for instance the greater expenditure on dental care in the Birmingham area, not does it quote the age range of the sample of children chosen. The longer term effects of fluoridation may not be visible immediately. Even the Government's own review says the evidence is not conclusive.

- the so-called consultation they mentioned ignored the vast majority of people - thousands of people and Councils clearly stated they didn't want fluoride added - indeed 72% of the people who responded to the public consultation on the Southampton scheme opposed it - how can they say it gained much local support? I'm afraid that is a bare faced lie.

- lastly they talk about recognising the benefits - again the Government's own review says more research is needed. Chair, Professor Sheldon, stated that "the review did not show water fluoridation to be safe".

I wont repeat all the arguments here suffice to say the BDA are one again spinning their nonsense.

5. Stop the rot: harness the potential of fluoride to prevent tooth decay Fluoridated water has the potential to reduce significantly the number of children in the UK who needlessly suffer tooth decay. Two areas of Britain, the West Midlands and some of the East Coast, already enjoy the benefit of fluoride in their water supplies. In non-fluoridated Manchester, five-year-old children suffer approximately three times as much tooth decay as their peers in Birmingham. The Water Act in 2003 recognised the positive contribution fluoride makes to improving dental health, placing the onus on water companies to fluoridate their water supplies where local consultation supported the implementation of the measure. In 2008 South Central Strategic Health Authority carried out consultations on proposals to introduce fluoride to water supplies in Southampton and South West Hampshire. Despite gaining much local support, progress on the proposal stalled, pending a judicial review of the decision. The government that is elected in 2010 must recognise the contribution fluoride makes to preventing tooth decay, pledge to support strategic health authorities who wish to consult their residents on proposals to introduce fluoridation, and back evidence-based, targeted schemes such as fluoride varnishing.