§ 52. Rear-Admiral Morgan-Gilesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he has given to health authorities on the subject of fluoridation of water supplies in areas where local authorities have voted against this form of medication.
§ Mr. MoyleMy Department has issued a circular—copy of which I am sending to the hon. and gallant Member—encouraging area health authorities to decide on fluoridation and describing arrangements for financial help towards the capital cost of introducing this safe and effective measure. Its purpose is not to administer a specific dose of a medicine but to reproduce the dental protection conferred by the most satisfactory proportion of fluoride found naturally in drinking water, namely, in temperate climates, one part of fluoride per million parts of water. It is for each area health authority—whose membership of local authority members has been substantially increased—to undertake local consultations when considering fluoridation, but the decision to seek its introduction rests solely with the authority because of its statutory responsibility for preventive health.