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6:41pm Wednesday 1st October 2008 in
A LEADING anti-fluoridation campaigner has criticised Southampton's consultation document, calling it "propaganda".
Dr Paul Connett, the director of Fluoride Action Network and a retired professor of chemistry at St Lawrence University in New York State, claims the booklet produced by South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA) to tell the public about fluoridation is biased in favour of fluoridation.
Southampton City Primary Care Trust wants to introduce water fluoridation in a bid to tackle the poor dental health among the city's children, and the SHA is running a public consultation on the proposals.
Dr Connett, who has flown over to Southampton from his New York home to join in the Great Fluoride Debate, said: "It is propaganda. People in Southampton are being grossly misled.
A spokesman for South Central SHA said: "We completely refute any claim that the consultation document is propaganda. It provide scientific facts, sets out the issues for public consultation, provides people with the opportunity to express an opinion and directs people to further information."
See tomorrow's Daily Echo for a full report.
Comments(10)
now in the north
says...
7:21pm Wed 1 Oct 08
stuartjebbitt
says...
10:36pm Wed 1 Oct 08
Andy Locks Heath
says...
11:16pm Wed 1 Oct 08
Rob444
says...
11:34pm Wed 1 Oct 08
comment_6870191_full wrote:Andy, the solution to the problem of tooth decay in children is simple:
I'm willing to concede that there's enough doubt about fluoridation to have made me question my own former views, and yes Jim, I will go and research the matter again. But I still have to say to all the antis, that fluoridation is only there to address a particular medical problem (tooth decay in children) - it's not there as part of some weird experiment on humanity. So what should we do instead? I've put forward my views previously but I want to hear what anti fluoride campaigners would do. We don't need sophistry on the definition of a mineral; that's pointless and counter productive. I want to know your alternative plan to address the problem that fluoridation is supposed to be addressing. If you don't have a counter proposal you aren't moving the argument along. You aren't helping.
Andy Locks Heath
says...
8:01am Thu 2 Oct 08
Nutstrangler
says...
9:49am Thu 2 Oct 08
Andy Locks Heath
says...
12:27pm Thu 2 Oct 08
now in the north
says...
1:34pm Thu 2 Oct 08
now in the north
says...
1:39pm Thu 2 Oct 08
now in the north
says...
1:47pm Thu 2 Oct 08
Andy Locks Heath wrote:I have indeed obtained a fair few googled facts, but I do not follow blindly.
But all that already exists Rob and it doesn't work. Decay rates in Southampton's children are really poor and yes it may be among the Sunny Delight Society but the children still deserve and need protection. My suggestion is to bring back compulsory dental checking in schools and make parents liable for neglect if treatment is offered and not taken. But I want to hear these sort of ideas from the fluoride critics, because they act as though fluoridation is an end in itself by some kind of weird machiavellian oppressive government, rather than a blunt (and possibly risky) tool to fix an existing problem. Why people come on here with a googlefull of selected internet facts and don't even mention the problem fluoride is supposed to fix, beats me. Finding solutions is whole lot tougher than rubbishing an existing plan but if you aren't going to even attempt it then the point is wasted.
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