TOOTHLESS POSSIBLE
Doctors outraged govt refuses to deliver fluoride to communities
FLUORIDE is not being added to the water supply of multiple Territory communities, in direct violation of the government’s own policy.
Doctors say it’s a “major health concern”.
FLUORIDE is not being added to the water supply in multiple Territory communities, in direct violation of the Government’s own policy, the Sunday Territorian can reveal.
The only communities fluoridated in the Top End are Wadeye, Maningrida and Groote Eylandt.
Australian Medical Association NT branch president Rob Parker declared it a “major health concern”.
He said the NT Government’s own policy was to add fluoride in every Territory community with a population of 600 or more.
Not even Nhulunbuy has fluoridated water despite having a population of close to 4000 people, according to the latest available census data.
Dr Parker said failing to add fluoride to the water supply put the health of remote Territorians at risk.
“It’s a major health concern … it can exacerbate chronic illness,” he said.
“We want the government to follow its own policy – the AMA is very keen for the NT to follow its own standards and have fluoridation in all communities over 600.”
Australian Dental Association NT former president Ashley Freeman said remote communities had the highest decay rates in Australia and tooth decay was a leading cause of hospital admission in very young children.
“We believe that fluoridation of these areas would be the fairest and most effective way to improve oral health in these communities,” he said.
Dr Freeman said fluoridation would save the NT Government hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long term.
“Fluoride is proven over the past 50 years to lower the risk of tooth decay,” he said.
Dr Freeman has been pushing the NT Government for years, trying to boost the number of communities with fluoride. “We feel like the issue is being routinely ignored,” he said.
Dr Parker also took aim at Power and Water for not including fluoridation information on every community in its annual water report.
A Power and Water spokeswoman said it regularly reported drinking water quality data to the Department of Health as the regulator of drinking water quality in the NT.
She said each year it published an annual drinking water quality report, which provided a record of the water quality management activities and drinking water quality performance at 92 centres.
NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the Health Department’s current fluoride policy would be up for review in 2020.
“We feel like the issue is being ignored” DR ASHLEY FREEMAN