Monthly Archives: September 2013
Disability tests opposed by dean of St Paul's Cathedral
A letter urging Prime Minister David Cameron to get rid of work assessments for the disabled has been signed by the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Very Rev Dr David Ison was among campaigners to claim the tests could “cut short” disabled people’s lives.
The letter also called on ministers to address the “shameful offences” of austerity measures.
The government said the assessments had been improved and could help disabled people get into employment.
‘Heaviest burden’
The letter, titled The Downing Street Demand, called for an end to work capability assessments (WCA) which “demean and distress” disabled people.
Government warned on ageing society
More than three-quarters of people believe that the Government is “not ready” for the impact of an ageing population, a poll suggests.
The news comes as figures show that the number of elderly people over the age of 90 has rocketed over the last three decades.
There has been a five-fold increase in the number of centenarians over the last three decades, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In 1981, there were just 2,420 people aged 100 and over living in England and Wales, but by 2012 the figure shot up to 12,320, the ONS said.
The figures also show that the number of pensioners aged over the age of 90 has almost tripled in three decades since 1981.
Fluoride in tap water cuts fillings – but does it raise dementia risk?
Councils hail health findings as campaigners call for more research into long-term effects
- Many of the areas with the lowest rates of fillings have added the powerful enamel-protecting chemical to their tap water
- Campaigners claim the data should persuade more areas to sign up to mass fluoridisation scheme
- Critics insist that there is evidence it could be putting youngsters at risk of dementia in later life
By Mark Howarth
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Adding fluoride to tap water leaves fewer children needing fillings, according to NHS figures out yesterday
Adding fluoride to tap water leaves fewer children needing fillings, according to NHS figures out yesterday.
The statistics revealed that England’s ten million children required 3.5million fillings last year.
And many of the areas with the lowest rates of fillings are the ones that have added the powerful enamel-protecting chemical to their tap water.
Nevertheless, critics of the mass fluoridisation scheme insist that there is evidence it could be putting youngsters at risk of dementia in later life.
Youngsters in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire – where supplies have been treated since 1968 – had fewer cavities than children in any other region.
And the three medicated areas of Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside had 32 per cent fewer fillings than neighbouring South Tyneside, which has chosen not to add fluoride to its water supplies.
Last night campaigners claimed the data should persuade more areas to sign up to the scheme.
