- Ministers were accused of forcing people to take medication
without their consent yesterday as the Government moved to push through
plans to add fluoride to drinking water.
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- The Tories, who allowed their MPs a free vote on the
measures to make it easier to fluoridate water last night, said that they
were unhappy about the Government adding medicine to the water supply.
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- Ministers were accused of planning "mass medication"
of drinking water in order to improve the teeth of young children who do
not have balanced diets or fail to brush their teeth regularly.
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- David Lidington MP, shadow Secretary of State for the
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said during the second reading of
the Water Bill that the government plans were ill thought out. "Fluoridation
is an important element of the Bill, and I feel serious unease at the idea
of giving the state the power to insist on putting medicines into the water
supply," he said.
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- The Liberal Democrats, who with the Tories and Labour
allowed their MPs a free vote, said water fluoridation should be a matter
for local communities. "The case for what is effectively compulsory
medication has not yet been made. But it is the right of local communities
to decide on this issue," said Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat environment
spokesman. "The decision to add or remove fluoride from the water
supply must be given to locally elected bodies, not to unelected officials."
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- The Government was last night proposing an amendment
to the Water Bill which would make it possible for local health authorities
to force water companies to add the chemical to the water supply. The Green
Party, which plans to table an emergency motion opposing fluoridation at
its annual conference this week, said it was "patronising" for
the Government to suggest that low-income families did not feed or look
after their children properly, which meant they had bad teeth. They cited
evidence showing that 48 per cent of people who have fluoridated water
suffer dental fluorosis or unsightly mottling of the teeth. Studies have
also suggested a link with Down's syndrome, cancer, brittle bones and thyroid
problems. But ministers think that adding fluoride will help to prevent
cavities in children from low-income families. They are backed from MPs
from all parties.
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- Andy Burnham, Labour MP for Leigh, criticised "nonsense
scare stories" about fluoridation of water supplies. He said a poll
by the British Fluoridation Society, which has been campaigning for the
addition of the chemical, showed solid public support for the move.
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- Some 6 million people already have fluoride in their
water.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=441623\
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