News Archive

The debate over adding fluoride to Sunderland’s drinking water has been reignited after Health Secretary Alan Johnson said it could help fight tooth decay among children. Mr Johnson wants a national discussion on whether to put fluoride into water supplies, saying it could give a “dental health boost that could last a lifetime”. Fluoride is […]

Controversial plans to add fluoride to drinking water in Portsmouth are to be revisited by senior health officials. An announcement by health secretary Alan Johnson calls on health managers across the country to introduce fluoridation of water supplies, and he has been backed by city public health tsar Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones. Mr Johnson claims it […]

New government funding and guidance to help facilitate local fluoridation schemes Health Secretary Alan Johnson today urged the NHS to consider fluoridating tap water for those areas with poor dental health to help prevent tooth decay and reduce health inequalities. £14 million per annum extra funding will be made available over the next 3 years […]

Alan Johnson’s attempt to extend water fluoridation across England is likely to focus on the most deprived 20 per cent of the population, which experiences 80 per cent of the nation’s dental disease. Dentists say that in countries where water fluoridation is widespread, such as America, Australia and New Zealand, dental health is far superior […]

For more than 40 years, head-in-the sand campaigners have fought against fluoride being put in water supplies. Yet the evidence shows that, where it is, it makes a huge difference to people’s dental health, particularly children. Now, finally, Health Secretary Alan Johnson is going to give the go-ahead for it to be added to water. […]

ALAN JOHNSON, the health secretary, will this week tell health chiefs in areas of England with the highest rates of tooth decay to add fluoride to the water supply to improve the dental health of poor children. Johnson will argue that adding the mineral to tap water is necessary to prevent tooth decay among children […]

The debate over fluoride in water is likely to be resurrected this week with Government support for the measure. Health Secretary Alan Johnson is to offer help to health authorities who want the chemical put in local supplies. The move is part of Gordon Brown’s commitment to ensure the NHS focuses on prevention as well […]

Every family should have fluoride added to their tap water supplies to stop tooth decay in children, Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, will tell health authorities on Tuesday. Mr Johnson will urge them to increase the number of people who have the mineral pumped into their homes from six million to 53 million, to cover […]

Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths has called for the National Assembly to debate whether fluoride should be added to the Welsh water supply. But will such a form of mass medication improve our dental health? Dr Richard Lewis, Welsh Secretary of the British Medical Association, puts forward the case for flouridation THE BMA has for many […]

What links your toothpaste to the atomic bomb and the world’s most corrosive acid? Fluoride has been added to Bedfordshire’s water with little or no public debate. GARRICK ALDER reports on one campaigner who refuses to go with the flow. Cynthia Bagchi is shocked but not surprised. Another health study showing the negative effects of […]