Fluoride to return to Hastings water supply after a two year absence

Fluoride is due to make a return to Hastings drinking water from August, following a two year absence due to the Havelock North gastro outbreak.

Hawke's Bay DHB was keen to see fluoride return to the supply and in a paper going before the board today staff said "community fluoridation remains an ongoing and serious concern as it has been absent from the Hastings District Council supply since August 2016 and no clear timeframe for its reinstatement has been announced by Hastings District Council".

It said "Reinstatement is a high priority for Maori and Pacific oral health".

Hastings was the first place in New Zealand to have fluoride added to its urban water as a means of preventing tooth decay, in 1954, but the water supply has been fluoride-free since the Havelock North gastro-outbreak.  Read more