General News
11 November, 2024
GPs campaign for fluoride
THREE doctors on behalf of a collective of 28 have made an impassionate plea for Cairns Regional Council to add fluoride to the region’s water supply.
Dr Elizabeth Martin, Dr Stephen Salleras and Dr Lisa Fraser were given 15 minutes to state their case at the council’s Wednesday fortnightly meeting where a packed public gallery included both fluoride supporters and opponents with protest banners.
At times anti-fluoride protestors interrupted proceedings by shouting out comments such as “Stop poisoning people” and “You’re lying too much”.
An attempt at the end of the meeting by Cr Rob Pyne to have fluoride discussed at council workshops failed after a majority of councillors refused to give him permission to move a resolution.
Dr Salleras said it was evident that thousands of people had suffered poor oral health since flouride was removed from the Cairns water supply in 2013.
He said, while they were not dentists, they saw “the misery of dental pain”.
Dr Salleras said poor oral health led to other medical issues, including diabetes and heart, lung and kidney disease.
Dr Fraser said every day she saw the results of teeth decay in her patients, resulting in medications and antibiotics being administered and even emergency department visits.
She said it made her “terribly distressed”.
Dr Fraser said, while there was 76 per cent fluoridation in Queensland, most was in Brisbane and southeast Queensland.
Dr Martin said 60 years of research showed that water fluoridation helped to prevent tooth decay by protecting against damage and helping with the repair of teeth.
She said water fluoridation reduced tooth decay by 26-44 per cent in children, teenagers and adults.
Dr Martin said there was no reliable evidence of an association between water fluoridation at current Australian levels and other human health outcomes including cancer, kidney disease, thyroid function, cognitive function and IQ.
She said she was “shocked” at the teeth decay she had seen in pre-school children in Cairns.
Dr Salleras said the doctors would work with all councillors about fluoride using the city’s dental and medical expertise.
Another doctor, Dr Nicole Sleeman, said while Mayor Amy Eden said that fluoridation should be a state government decision, “Far North health professionals are making it clear that there is a wealth of health and public health expertise in our own community, who are more than equipped to guide council on public health decisions that councillors are legally responsible for”. “Health professionals and peak health bodies invite Cairns councillors to work with them, not against, in making evidence-based public health decisions that promote health in our community, as the people of Far North Queensland deserve,” she said.
In the meantime, Cr Eden and councillors have refused to meet the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service which has offered to make a presentation about the benefits of fluoride.
CHHHS chief executive officer Leena Singh said “it is disappointing that we will be unable to directly discuss the health benefits of water fluoridation to Cairns regional councillors”.
“The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service supports water fluoridation to improve oral health in the region,” she said.
“This is backed by strong, consistent scientific and medical evidence from global health experts.
“Tooth decay is having a serious impact on the oral health and, more broadly, the general health of hundreds of people around our region and more than 150 children required dental treatment under a general anaesthetic during the previous financial year.
“It is costly to the community and our health system and can lead to chronic conditions, such as heart disease, later in life.
“A strong relationship with local government is key to the success of any public health measure.”
A council spokesman said “to avoid duplicating meetings with health professionals we declined a second meeting”.
“We also chose a deputation rather than a private meeting so that the wider public would have the chance to hear the information and it would be on the public record,” he said.
“The office of the CEO has also reached out to Dr John Gerrard, chief health officer for Queensland, to discuss his position on water fluoridation in light of the recent results from Our Cairns Survey. Council is awaiting a reply.
“Mayor Amy Eden stresses that oral health is, and always has been, the responsibility of the state government, not councils.
“It is up to the state government and chief health officer – who are best placed to make these kinds of decisions on health – to address this issue on a statewide basis if they believe it’s important to do so.
“If health professionals, peak organisations and residents believe there should be fluoride in the Cairns water supply, I encourage them to lobby the state government and local MPs to take back responsibility for it on a statewide basis.
“Our community is divided on this issue, people deserve freedom of choice, and (the) council’s position on this issue has not changed.
“Of the 77 councils in Queensland, 51 do not add fluoride to their drinking water.”
