Calls for a levy on soft drinks

A levy should be put on sugary soft drinks to help fund free dental care for all New Zealanders, a Christchurch MP says.

Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton has released a dental policy that he hopes the Labour Party will adopt as part of its health programme for this year's election.

Cost and access were still the major hurdles to dental care for most people, Anderton said. "The cost of extending free dental care to all would be around $1 billion a year at current prices."

He said funding could come from an ACC-type levy, a reduction in tax cuts or a levy on sugary soft drinks.

Obesity was linked to dental care, with a 2.5-litre bottle of Coca-Cola being the most-bought supermarket item in the country, he said.

"We are, without a doubt, heading towards a plague or a kind of epidemic of dental decay."

The dental system should be "gradually rebuilt" over several years, starting with vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and pregnant women. Only 50 per cent of children had access to dental care, Anderton said.

"We were the first country to introduce a school dental system and then for some reason we closed it down altogether. We're ending up with a huge number of New Zealanders who have major problems for the whole of their lives."

He supported fluoridation of all drinking water. He said children from affluent families in Christchurch had worse dental health than those from low socioeconomic families in South Auckland because Auckland has fluoride in its water.

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Article Source: stuff.co.nz