That " Fluoride " Question !

As moves to engineer a vote at a coming council election to remove fluoride from the water supply grows stronger it raises alarm in state medical circles.  There is a small cabal in the Port Macquarie  Hastings council who are making fluoride a political issue.

Queensland local government councils have an election due on March 28 and already thirteen have removed fluoride from their water supply by popular vote. That happened in 2013 and now the dreadful effect on dental health is plainly evident.  Dentists report an enormous surge in tooth cavities across all age groups but with particular impact on children.

Natural fluoride is lacking in most Australian sources of water and to achieve dental health most communities have agreed to its addition, but there has always been a small element of opposition.  This is mainly encouraged by the same rumour mill that creates opposition to having children vaccinated against childhood diseases and this is despite overwhelming scientific advice that fluoride is perfectly safe.

Just as opponents of vaccination claim that this programme is responsible for autism the people against fluoride claim that it is a poison that the government insists on  using as some sort of control measure.  That is widely believed in conspiracy theory circles and some adherents  even drive miles to bring household cooking water home from a non fluoride source.

Unfortunately, this very active rumour mill can be very convincing and when they sew doubt in enough minds the tenets of democracy swing into action and a geographical area is excluded from fluoride protection.  It is possible for fluoride supporters to switch to toothpaste with a fluoride addition but inevitably tooth deterioration soon becomes evident.

The strong action of the government has swung solidly behind child vaccination.  To achieve herd immunity the government is refusing enrolment in pre-school and schools for unvaccinated children and this has resulted in some die hard opponents resorting to home schooling.

It is quite possible the issue of a popular vote will be indecisive.  In  1991 Port Macquarie voted to remove fluoride but that was treated as a request and denied by NSW Health.  It seems that the democratic process does have limitations and the government can claim a mandate in the operation of public health issues.

If nothing else, the timing of this fluoride question was ill opportune.   Just as the Federal government was issuing strict health guidelines to combat a Pandemic.