Opponents of fluoridation all at sea with new legislation

Image credit: Why Ideology and Science Don’t Mix

Opponents of community water fluoridation (CWF) should be supporting the proposed fluoridation legislation instead of organising opposition to it.

Think about it.

If Fluoride Free NZ (FFNZ) was honest in its claim that they are “New Zealand’s leading advocate for science in the fluoridation debate” (see their press release  Open letter to Hon Andrew little, Minister of Health) then they should be supporting science rather than ideology and insist on the best scientific scrutiny of information relating to fluoridation.

If they honestly accept the claims of those cherry-picked anti-fluoride scientists they are quoting in their social media memes then they should welcome the opportunity to expose the research of those scientists to a proper critical review.

With scientific backers like this, opponents of community water fluoridation should be welcoming the new fluoridation legislation (example of social media memes promoted by the Fluoride Action Network)

And they should welcome the proposal that the proper place for such a scientific review is the office of the Director-general of health which can call on the best scientists for information and review of the evidence. That proposal is an integral part of the draft legislation which requires that the Director-General must consider the scientific evidence related to community water fluoridation before making a direction that CWF be introduced or stopped in a region (see clause 116E : Director-General may direct local authority to add or not to add fluoride to drinking water in the Supplementary Order Paper).

So, it appears strange that instead of welcoming the new legislation FFNZ is mobilising their supporters to oppose it. And their US colleagues at the Fluoridation Action Network are pouring their resources into the FFNZ campaign.

But why? It is ridiculous for pro-science people to campaign to retain the old system where the evaluation of evidence and decisions on CWF were made by scientific and political naive councillors in local bodies. Councillors who could be easily captured by activists and fooled by their misrepresentation of the science., Councillors who are more concerned with their next election or chances of claiming the Mayor’s job than any science. And councillors who are already predisposed to the claims of the activists, who may indeed be activists themselves, who were more concerned with ideological orientation than any science.

If the fluoridation opponents organised by FFNZ are really “leading advocates for science” and want recent research they are promoting to be considered in fluoridation decisions then they would be supporting the new legislation rather than opposing it.

Ideological distortion of science

I really wonder at a group of ideologically motivated people making submissions promoting their understanding (or misunderstanding) of the science to the Parliamentary Health Committee when that committee is simply not tasked with considering the science. Its job is to consider proposals for the reorganisation of the mechanism for making fluoridation decisions – nothing to do with science itself.

Instead of wasting their submissions on this bill, they should be saving them for promotion of their beliefs about what the science claims to the Director-General of Health and his/her staff. Once this bill is passed the Director-General of Health’s office should be a great place for these claims to be properly considered and reviewed.

That would be a vast improvement on the old situation when they took their arguments to scientifically and politically naive local body councils. Or brought in US anti-fluoridation spokesmen to speak to audiences of homoeopaths, head massagers and other alternative health advocates and their followers.

Or perhaps I am the naive one. Perhaps fluoridation opponents prefer to make their arguments to those local body councillors instead of scientifically capable people. Perhaps FFNZ is dishonest to claim they are ““New Zealand’s leading advocate for science in the fluoridation debate.” 

Similar articles

 

Anti-fluoride activist commits “Death by PowerPoint”

We have all sat through boring, and counterproductive, PowerPoint presentations. Boring because the presenter breaks all the rule relevant to the preparation of visual displays. And counterproductive because, in the end, the audience does not remember any of the information the presenter attempts to convey.

David JP Phillips gives some relevant advice on PowerPoint preparation in the video above and similar advice is available online.  All this advice is very helpful for anyone preparing a presentation – although constant reminders of the points and frequent practice or experience are needed to take it on board. The PowerPoint programme seems to tempt even the best presenter to make fundamental mistakes which can reduce the effectiveness of their visual material.

Learning from bad examples

Examples of bad PowerPoint presentations are ubiquitous – but I urge readers to critically consider this recent example. The PowerPoint presentation the anti-fluoride campaigner, Paul Connett, prepared for his recent presentation to a meeting in the NZ Parliament buildings. Fluoride Free NZ (FFNZ) has provided a link to Connett’s presentation – Prof Paul Connett Power Point Presentation to Parliament 22nd Feb 2018.

It has 155 slides for presentation with another 24 extra slides to be held in reserve if he had time. Just the sheer number of slides, let alone the extreme detail on individual slides, violates a basic presentation rule to start with.

Well, I say “prepared” but the recent Fluoride Free NZ newsletter describes it as “The Power Point presentation that Prof Connett showed” to the MPs meeting. I find that hard to believe as only three MPs turned up to the meeting. In such situations, a reasonable person gives up on a detailed presentation and resorts to having a chat with the people who did turn up.

An example of what not to do in a PowerPoint presentation – source  Prof Paul Connett Power Point Presentation to Parliament 22nd Feb 2018

I urge interested readers to download it and have a look. Critique it from the point of view of the advice given by David JP Phillips above. It really is a bad presentation and I don’t believe any objective person could have taken anything meaningful from it. Treat this as a learning exercise.

Mind you, these presentations are usually simply “singing to the choir” – presented to true believers. All indications are that the three MPs who attended that meeting can be described that way. Other MPs were probably well aware that Connett’s presentations given on his recent speaking tour had no relevance to their work – and probably most were aware of his bias and unreliability as a source of scientific information, anyway.

Second reading of fluoridation bill

Parliament will shortly undertake the second reading of the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill. It is currently 15th on the order paper.  This bill does not deal with the science of fluoridation – parliament wisely leaves that to the experts who can advise them when necessary. The bill simply concerns the procedure for decision-making – specifically suggesting transferring the decision from councils to District Health Boards. The Parliamentary Health Committee has already consulted widely on this – and FFNZ and Paul Connett have had every opportunity to present their views. In fact, Paul Connett and other opponents of fluoridation gerrymandered the system to get much longer presentation times than other submitters. I guess they have plenty of experience of making submissions and know all the tricks.

Note:

Here I am simply treating Paul Connett’s PowerPoint presentation as an example of how not to use PowerPoint. Later I will probably return to his presentation and deal with specific areas where he misrepresents the science.

Similar articles