Unlicenced drug used for babies condemned by health NGOs

[Guest guest]

PRESS RELEASE

Issued by:

The Alliance for Natural Health

The Dr. Rath Health Foundation

The National Health Federation

VOICE

MayDay

 

For immediate release

Tuesday, 12 December, 2006

 

Five non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Alliance for Natural

Health, the Dr Rath Health Foundation, the National Health

Federation, VOICE and MayDay, have formed a new alliance to challenge

national and international regulations and guidelines that continue

to allow the use of synthetic fluorides in infant formulas.

 

After decades of use in drinking water in certain parts of the world,

such as USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand,

fluoride's risk to health is demonstrated by a growing body of

scientific evidence, including increased risk of cancer,

osteoporosis, bone fractures and dental fluorosis (mottling of the

teeth), that may outweigh its purported benefit: the reduced

incidence of dental caries. This concern has been most recently

voiced by the American Dental Association (ADA), which issued interim

guidance on 9th November 2006, advising parents to mix powdered

infant formula with fluoride-free water.

 

Fluoride represents a range of compounds that occur naturally in both

spring and river waters, and a group of synthetic compounds, which

are by-products of industrial wastes. These latter compounds are then

added to water supplies for the purpose of killing bacteria

implicated in tooth decay.

 

Dr Robert Verkerk, Executive Director of the Alliance for Natural

Health, said: " Fluorides are extremely reactive molecules which have

been shown to cause considerable harm in biological systems. They

continue to be used by health authorities for a specific medicinal

purpose, namely the treatment and prevention of dental caries, yet

they have never been subjected to the full risk/benefit analysis

which is required in order to bring other drugs to the market.

Drinking water medicated with fluoride clearly amounts to government-

sponsored use of an unlicenced drug. It is staggering that

international bodies such as the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius

Commission could have overruled the substantial scientific concerns

about fluoride in infant formula raised by several countries in

November's Codex meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand and that babies, the

most vulnerable members of our society, are made the innocent victims "

 

Paul Anthony Taylor, on behalf of the Dr Rath Health Foundation,

added: " It is deeply irresponsible of governments to force all

sectors of society to consume fluoride along with our single most

required form of sustenance – water, especially when the toxic dose

overlaps the therapeutic dose meaning there is no safety margin. The

recent meeting of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for

Special Dietary Uses in Chiang Mai, exemplified the irrational and

inconsistent behaviour of regulators in relation to fluoride. On the

basis of consensus voting procedures, the same committee, in the same

meeting, voted to prevent fluoride from being added to powdered

formulas during their manufacture, while allowing the same

contaminant to be added to water used in the manufacture of ready-to-

use formulas. "

 

Long time anti-fluoridation campaigner, Robert Pocock of VOICE in

Ireland , has welcomed the united front being developed against

ingested fluoride. " VOICE has been waging a long battle against the

Irish government's fluoridation of drinking water " , says

Pocock, " given the high toxicity of synthetic fluorides and their

uncontrolled dosage, there are undeniable risks to the human body and

there is no safety margin between the amounts required to yield a

therapeutic effect and the amounts that are universally safe. Since

babies are among the most susceptible groups exposed, it is deeply

irresponsible for any regulator to continue allowing this unlicenced

drug to be used for babies, especially when no specific scientific

studies have been undertaken to demonstrate its safety. Worse still

is that increasing numbers of cell, animal and human studies reveal

significant risks to adults and children, risks that have now been

raised by prestigious bodies such as the American Dental

Association. "

 

" Putting this into perspective " , added Verkerk, " the UN World Health

Organization has set for fluoride a maximum guideline level of 1.5 mg

per litre in drinking water without making any reference to

consumption by infants. Looking more closely at the guidelines most

recently agreed by another UN body, Codex, the situation is

preposterous. We have calculated that, in physiological terms, the

Codex guideline level for babies allows a baby to potentially be

exposed to the equivalent amount of fluoride to which an adult would

be exposed when drinking 16 litres of fluoridated water. "

 

The US-based National Health Federation (NHF) has strongly opposed

since the 1950s the fluoridation of public water supplies, and has

long fought against the contradictory consensus views at Codex

meetings. Scott Tips, NHF's Legal Counsel, said: " This

disproportionate behaviour at Codex must be stopped and we welcome

the support of other high-profile NGOs in this important struggle in

which the most vulnerable sector of our society – babies - are the

innocent victims. Even the Canadian Dental Association has stated

that `Fluoride supplements should not be recommended for children

less than three years old.' This demonstrates a most definite

awareness that fluoride is not the innocuous substance that it is

passed off as being, particularly where the forms used

(hydrofluosilicic acid, sodium silicofluoride, and sodium fluoride)

are nothing more than the by-products of commercial fertilizer or

aluminium production. In fact, while many governments struggle with

the fluoride issue, increasing amounts of scientific evidence

contraindicate the use of fluoride in the public water supply. "

 

Also adding its voice to this campaign, the Danish civil health

rights organization, MayDay has been publicizing the health risks of

fluoride for many years. Tamara Thérèsa Mosegaard, MayDay's

chairwoman, noted, " Our focus is upon working for optimal health for

all. As such, clean drinking water without any added medicinal

substances is a basic human right. "

 

The alliance of NGOs opposed to fluoride is arguing that drinking

water is an inappropriate medium for the delivery of fluoride,

because – amongst other objections – it is impossible to control

dosage owing to different levels of consumption. Additionally,

toxicity varies greatly between different groups, with babies being

the most sensitive group of all. The NGOs propose that any government

wishing to promote fluoride for the purpose of reducing dental caries

should make it, at most, optional and should ensure that in whatever

appropriate form fluoride is delivered (e.g. as tablets, in

toothpastes or mouthwashes) the dosage can be controlled according to

body weight, age, medical condition and individual consent. The NGOs

are also calling for an international ban on the fluoridation of

drinking water, involving as it does, a medicine that is consumed

involuntarily that has never been licenced by any national drugs

regulator worldwide. Its use by governments is thus seen as a

violation of the rights of individuals.

 

ENDS.

 

CONTACTS

 

Alliance for Natural Health

The Alliance for Natural Health

The Atrium, Curtis Road

Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA , UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1306 646600

Fax: +44 (0) 1306 646552

Email: info

Website: www.anhcampaign.org

 

Dr Rath Health Foundation

Dr. Rath Health Foundation

Stralauer Platz 33/34

10243 Berlin

Germany

Tel: +49 (0) 30 246 479 100

Fax: +49 (0) 30 246 479 101

Email: info

Website : www4.dr-rath-foundation.org

 

National Health Federation

The National Health Federation

P.O. Box 688

Monrovia , California 91017

USA

Tel: +1 626 357 2181

Fax: +1 626 303 0642

Email: contact-us

Website: www.thenhf.com

 

VOICE

Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment

9 Upper Mount Street

Dublin 2

Ireland

Tel: +353 1 642 5741

Media Contact: +353 86 811 3071

Email: avoice

Website: www.voiceireland.org

 

MayDay

MayDay, civil health rights movement

Rundforbivej 2, Troeroed

DK – 2060 Vedbaek

Denmark

Tel. +45 7020 7770

Fax : +45 7020 7771

E-mail: kontakt

Main website: www.mayday-info.dk