LONDON, Feb. 3 Health officials in England plan to lobby Parliament for fluoridation as an effective and inexpensive way to help prevent dental problems, it was reported.
Only two areas in England -- the northeast and the West Midlands -- currently have fluoride automatically added to their municipal water supplies, The Mail on Sunday reported.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson says the plan will help poorer children avoid developing dental cavities.
"I want the NHS to do much more to prevent rather than just treat disease," he was quoted as saying. "Fluoridation is an effective and relatively easy way to help address health inequalities, giving children from poorer backgrounds a dental health boost that can last a lifetime."
Proponents point to studies indicating that children living in non-fluoridated Manchester are twice as likely to have dental caries as children in Birmingham, where fluoride has been added to the water supply for over 40 years, the newspaper reported.
Critics, however, contend adding fluoride amounts to forced medication that could cause lasting damage, including pitting of the teeth.
A spokesman for the National Pure Water Association, which opposed mandatory fluoridation, said the practice would violate individuals' "human right to refuse consent to any medical intervention."
Copyright 2008 by UPI
