Calls to copy as island stops fluoride plan

2:34pm Wednesday 18th June 2008

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HAMPSHIRE campaigners have hailed a decision by the Isle of Man government to scrap plans to add fluoride to tap water - and called on the county's health chiefs to follow suit.

Manx residents torpedoed the proposals after a poll of 1,000 residents found a majority were opposed.

Activists say Southampton health chiefs should back down now before the launch of a £178,000 public consultation in August.

Faced with higher levels of tooth decay than the UK, governors on the Isle of Man had sought to gauge public opinion on fluoridation.

But when the results of its initial research showed more than half of the island's 80,000 residents were opposed to the idea, the Council of Ministers dropped the scheme.

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John Spottiswoode, the chairman of Hampshire Against Fluoridation, has called for the project to be scrapped before more money is wasted.

"After much pushing and a lot of money spent by the Isle of Man health authorities, with some very blatant biased approaches, it looks like they have eventually been forced to listen to the public opposition," he said.

"Are we going to be forced to go through the same charade in Southampton?"

Announcing the decision, the Isle of Man's Minister for Health and Social Security, Eddie Teare, said the poll had highlighted important issues, especially the level of awareness about poor dental health on the Isle of Man.

"The poll results have shown that the majority of respondents are opposed to fluoridation of water in the Isle of Man," he said.

"On that basis the department accepts the results and will not continue with proposing fluoridation of the water in the near future."

But Southampton City Primary Care Trust (PCT), which is behind the fluoridation proposals here, says the cases are not comparable.

Although unable to comment on the Isle of Man poll when contacted by the Daily Echo, health chiefs have previously pointed to a similar survey held here earlier this year.

The independent poll, carried out as part of the SHA's preliminary research into the feasibility of fluoridating Southampton's water, showed more city respondents were in favour of adding fluoride than against it.