Councillors not qualified to make anti-fluoride pronouncements

The extraordinary outburst by a newly elected Hamilton City Councillor over fluoride in water is another example of why decisions over water fluoridation should be made by District Health Boards and not local councils.

Water New Zealand Chief Executive John Pfahlert says most councillors are not qualified to make decisions on fluoride in water because it is a scientific health issue, not an ideological one.

“It is totally preposterous for Hamilton City Councillor Siggi Henry to claim that she knows more than scientists do about the benefits and risks of fluoride.”

He says calling scientists and health experts “smarty pants” shows an extraordinary level of childishness and ignorance from an elected representative.

“The facts around fluoride are very clear. Adding fluoride to drinking water poses no health risks at the recommended level of 0.7 to 1.0 parts per million while the benefits for dental health are irrefutable.”

In 2014 the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor released a major review titled Health Effects of Water Fluoridation: a Review of the Scientific Evidence. The study concluded that fluoridation is a good use of ratepayer funds as the savings in dental costs are likely to be more than the cost of adding fluoride.

I would sincerely hope that elected representatives of DHBs will take advice of health experts and the huge body of evidence supporting the case for fluoride in drinking water and that this will result in more communities in New Zealand benefitting from it.

Earlier this year the government moved to shift responsibility for fluoridating water supplies from councils to DHBs on the basis that decisions over fluoride should be based on local health priorities.

It has followed up that commitment by introducing a Bill to Parliament to effect that transfer of powers.