FDS response to Government's prevention green paper
23 Jul 2019
Responding to the Government’s consultation ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’, Professor Michael Escudier, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) at the Royal College of Surgeons of England said:
“There is a lot of good in this consultation paper that could significantly improve the health of our nation. It is important that the new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, doesn’t just brush aside the work that has already gone into getting us to this point, and the ambitions outlined in the paper.
“We are very supportive of supervised tooth brushing schemes being rolled out to nurseries and primary schools in England. The Government has said it will consult on this next year, however we would like to see these schemes start straight away. Similar initiatives in Scotland and Wales have been linked to large savings in dental treatment costs.
“We support the introduction of water fluoridation in areas where oral health is particularly poor. Such decisions are best made at the local level, driven by clinical need. Central government can help by providing funding so that cost is not a barrier to local authorities implementing water fluoridation.
“It is disappointing that the extension of the soft drinks industry levy to sugary milk drinks isn’t being implemented immediately. FDS believes strongly that the levy should be applied to sugar-sweetened dairy drinks and that there is also scope to widen the levy to other products which are not yet meeting the government’s reformulation targets.
“The continuing delay in implementing new restrictions on junk food advertising and price promotions is also concerning. These were announced last year but with a new Government there is a risk they could be kicked into the long grass.”
Notes to editors
1. The Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England is committed to enabling dentists and specialists to provide patients with the highest possible standards of practice and care.
2. For more information, please contact the RCS Press Office: Telephone: 020 7869 6047; E-mail: pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk. For out of hours media enquiries: 07966 486832