Northumberland votes to extend water fluoridation
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- Published: Thursday, 17 October 2019 14:06
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Northumberland county council has approved the next steps to extend the fluoridation of the water supply in the county. The plan is subject to approval from the Health Secretary and they also propose to hold a public consultation to run from May to August next year. The Community Water Fluoridation (CWF) network was closely involved, following a unanimous vote at the LDC Conference.
Northumbrian Water has confirmed that the proposal put forward to vary the Northumberland community water fluoridation scheme is ‘operable, efficient and technically possible to implement’. The current scheme covers areas in the former Alnwick district as well as parts in west Northumberland. Further north in the county is part of the existing scheme, but has not been receiving fluoridated water since the mid-2000s due to infrastructure failure; its restoration is being progressed by Public Health England.
The report to councillors noted that therefore some of Northumberland’s least deprived communities are receiving fluoridated water, while some of the most deprived are not. The proposed extension would cover an area in the south-east of the county, from Blyth out to Bedlington and Morpeth and up the coast to Amble. The proposal would more than double the number of Northumberland’s households which have fluoridated water, leaving just 4.2% – or around 14,500 residents – without.
The capital costs of the proposed extension are around £2.15million, which would fall to the Department of Health and Social Care. The annual running costs would be between £85,000 and £110,000 and would be covered by the county council’s existing public health grant. Northumberland has the highest rate in the North East of children under four being admitted to hospital for tooth decay, as well as the highest rate of general anaesthetics for this issue.
Source: Northumberland Gazette Why Northumberland leaders want to increase fluoridation of county’s water supply, October 9, 2019
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