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The Hawkes Bay District Health Board has been forced to retract
information it provided the Central Hawkes Bay District Council
on why it believes fluoridation should be continued in Waipukurau
The incorrect information has already been sent to all households
in Waipukurau
District Health Board Forced to Retract Incorrect Information
The Hawkes Bay District Health Board has been forced to retract
information it provided the Central Hawkes Bay District Council
on why it believes fluoridation should be continued in Waipukurau
The incorrect information has already been sent to all households
in Waipukurau.
The Council has sent all households the “Case For” fluoridation
and the “Case Against” fluoridation as provided to them by
the Hawkes Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) and Fluoride Action
Network New Zealand (FANNZ), respectively.
In the “Case For”, HBDHB state that since the 2006 study
that found that boys drinking fluoridated water were at far greater
risk of developing osteosarcoma, that there have been two studies
that show no association between primary bone cancer and fluoridation.
However, when asked to provide details of these studies by FANNZ,
the HBDHB has not been able to.
“This is another example of how the people who work for these
organisations just trot out whatever rubbish they want and expect
that everyone should believe them just because they work for
a District Health Board or the Ministry of Health” says Mary
Byrne, spokesperson for FANNZ.
“The District Council has gone to a lot of trouble to provide
information to its community so the people can make an informed
choice about whether they want this chemical, hydrofluorosilicic
acid, added to their water or not. It is very disappointing
when the people we rely on for expert advice, give so little
regard for what they are saying that they just appear to say
whatever suits them”.
A study published in 2006 in Cancer Causes and Control by Bassin
et al, showed that boys drinking fluoridated water between the
ages of 6 and 10 were 500 – 700% more likely to develop a rare
but important bone cancer called osteosarcoma in their late teens,
compared to boys drinking non-fluoridated water. According
to Mary Byrne “This study is like the missing piece of the
jigsaw. Prior to that there had been some studies that showed
an association and some that didn’t. But this study pinpointed
that it is the age at which the boys are drinking fluoridated
water, not if they are drinking fluoridated water when they are
diagnosed, or even their fluoride blood levels.”
The Central Hawkes Bay District Council is conducting a survey
of the residents in Waipukurau (the only fluoridated town in
Central Hawkes Bay) about whether they want to continue with
fluoridation or not before deciding whether or not to replace
the now defunct fluoride injector.
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