Monday, October 17, 2005

Queensland to fund Fluoridation

According to today's Financial Review, the Queensland government intends to offer local councils money to fluoridate their water "as part of a plan to fix the state’s health system and bring children’s dental care in line with other states".

The plan is expected to cost about $6 million and responds to a recommendation from consultant Peter Forster in his review into Queensland’s health bureaucracy. This was noted in the story posted on 3 October (see Blog Archive).

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie was previously opposed to water fluoridation but has admitted that Mr Forster’s report forced him to see the situation differently "I’ll admit I was the obstacle to this because frankly I thought local government should have done it", Mr Beattie said.

The Financial Review story also notes that only five Queensland communities - Townsville, Mareeba, Morandah, Dalby and Bamaga - currently have fluoridated water.