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To respect the people’s wishes or not to respect – that is the question on which Felicity Dumble of the Waikato DHB and Neil Croucher of the Northland DHB contradict each other. And the Otago DHB cannot decide whether it cares about children’s, and especially poor children’s, teeth at all.
Hamilton Councillors have suggested stopping fluoridation in Hamilton. Ms Dumble has opposed the move, stating that the people voted to retain it in 2006 after a massive publicity campaign by the DHB. So, she says, the Council should respect their wishes. Ms Dumble also stated that no new evidence had appeared since the Hamilton referendum, so there was no need for a policy review. Yet only in April, yet another published study showed a link between fluoride and bone cancer, that kills about six young men in New Zealand each year. Previous studies published in 2006 and 1992 showed a 5 to 7 fold increase in this bone cancer in males, from age-related exposure to fluoridated water. No study has refuted this age-related link. Meanwhile in Whangarei, where the public voted about 2:1 against fluoridation in 2002, Dr Neil Croucher states it is time for the Whangarei Council to reconsider it. “It seems paradoxical that these ‘faceless bureaucracies’, the DHBs, apparently have two faces for every member” jokes Mark Atkin, Fluoridation-free NZ Coalition representative, adding “Their only ‘principle’ seems to be ‘say whatever is expedient at the time’. That is not to say that all DHB members behave this way. We know many are personally opposed to the scientifically discredited practice of water fluoridation. But they are not allowed to speak against this entrenched political policy.” “We have also seen that every time a DHB wants to fluoridate a community it comes up with ‘statistics’ that show that community has the worst teeth in the country: Ashburton one month, Rotorua the next, Nelson the next, and so on. Realistically, who could give these people any credibility?” Mr Atkin asks. The Otago DHB has also announced it will close all school dental clinics in Otago, with Southland to follow, effectively removing access from an estimated 50% of children, especially those from poorer families, according to the Otago Primary Principals Association. “Meanwhile the DHB claims to care so much about these children it has been campaigning to add toxic fluoride to all water supplies, on the basis that fluoridation is claimed to especially help the poor” notes Mr Atkin. The most extensive review to date, published by the University of York in 2000, could find no scientific basis for such a claim. |