Apr 2010
Deal with alcohol ads to deal with binge drinking culture
27/04/10 17:59 Filed in: News Releases
The National government must listen to New Zealanders and raise the age at which young people can legally buy alcohol from 18 to 20. But more needs to be done to restrict alcohol advertising, says Jim Anderton MP for Wigram and Progressive Party leader.
He was responding to the release of the Law Commission’s report on liquor law changes. The report recommends a package of policies designed to reduce criminal offending and
the harm caused by alcohol. These include, increasing the purchasing age, increasing the price of alcohol, and cutting back the hours licensed premises are open.
The report recognises that alcohol misuse is a major contributor to violent offending.
“The police know this; 60 percent of people arrested by the police were under the influence of alcohol when they committed their crime. There are now 70,000 physical and sexual assaults a year in New Zealand that can be attributed to alcohol abuse. That’s 1350 a week.
“We have a problem with alcohol abuse in this country. People with responsible drinking habits are not the target. The culture of tolerating heavy drinking is. We need law changes to alter that. Anyone who thinks we can change abusive behaviour without that is dreaming.”
“But we also need a strong position on regulating the marketing and advertising of alcohol. Reducing alcohol advertising and sponsorship of sports games for example, would go a long way towards changing people’s attitudes to alcohol.
“It’s obscene that you can go to an under 6s ripper rugby game on a Saturday, and see five year olds running around with beer ads all over the flags and the goal posts.
“Here’s what the alcohol industry won’t tell you; they make their profits out of heavy drinkers. So targeting kids as young as five to associate alcohol with sports is part of developing heavy drinkers for the future.
“Former Progessive MP Matt Robson’s private members bill called for alcohol advertising on TV to be moved from 8.30pm to 10pm. I’d like to see alcohol sponsorship of sports games banned. We did it for smoking. You don’t have Benson & Hedges sponsoring tennis games anymore. We should do the same for alcohol sponsorships,” says Jim Anderton.
He was responding to the release of the Law Commission’s report on liquor law changes. The report recommends a package of policies designed to reduce criminal offending and
the harm caused by alcohol. These include, increasing the purchasing age, increasing the price of alcohol, and cutting back the hours licensed premises are open.
The report recognises that alcohol misuse is a major contributor to violent offending.
“The police know this; 60 percent of people arrested by the police were under the influence of alcohol when they committed their crime. There are now 70,000 physical and sexual assaults a year in New Zealand that can be attributed to alcohol abuse. That’s 1350 a week.
“We have a problem with alcohol abuse in this country. People with responsible drinking habits are not the target. The culture of tolerating heavy drinking is. We need law changes to alter that. Anyone who thinks we can change abusive behaviour without that is dreaming.”
“But we also need a strong position on regulating the marketing and advertising of alcohol. Reducing alcohol advertising and sponsorship of sports games for example, would go a long way towards changing people’s attitudes to alcohol.
“It’s obscene that you can go to an under 6s ripper rugby game on a Saturday, and see five year olds running around with beer ads all over the flags and the goal posts.
“Here’s what the alcohol industry won’t tell you; they make their profits out of heavy drinkers. So targeting kids as young as five to associate alcohol with sports is part of developing heavy drinkers for the future.
“Former Progessive MP Matt Robson’s private members bill called for alcohol advertising on TV to be moved from 8.30pm to 10pm. I’d like to see alcohol sponsorship of sports games banned. We did it for smoking. You don’t have Benson & Hedges sponsoring tennis games anymore. We should do the same for alcohol sponsorships,” says Jim Anderton.
Affordable dental care within reach for all Kiwis
23/04/10 20:21 Filed in: News Releases
Affordable dental care within reach for all Kiwis
For less than $1 billion, dental care could be brought into the public health system so that every New Zealand, no matter what their age, had access to affordable care, says Jim Anderton MP for Wigram and Progressive Party leader.
“That includes what we already spend on free dental care for under 18 year olds (about $120 million); plus the millions we spend on treating severe cases when people turn up in hospital emergency rooms,” Jim Anderton said today.
Jim Anderton outlined his proposals for subsidised dental care to the annual conference of the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society. This year marks 90 years since the School Dental Service was established, the first of its kind in the world.
“Fifty percent of New Zealanders do not visit the dentist regularly, and many of them turn up at emergency wards. You can see the queues at hospitals across New Zealand - just like a third world country,” says Jim Anderton.
“The last Labour Progressive government extended free dental care to all under 18s so that adolescents who were not at school or enrolled at a dentist, and therefore not covered, can now get free care.
“Former Labour Minister of Health, Annette King introduced one hundred mobile dental clinics to service schools, and the first ever dedicated Community Oral Health Services to target adolescents. Members of the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society are in the process of rolling out these changes.
“I believe we could roll out a subsidised dental system in stages, in the same way we introduced affordable GP visits while in government. We’ve already targeted the under 18s. Other vulnerable groups include retired New Zealanders and pregnant mothers.
“Unfortunately under this National government there isn’t the political will to do anything about dental care. Tony Ryall has removed oral health completely, as a health target.”
“Funding required for a subsidised system could be raised either through income tax, or by a small ACC type earner’s levy, in return for a lifetime of free or affordable dental treatment. Research into options continues, in consultation with the dental industry,” Jim Anderton said.
For less than $1 billion, dental care could be brought into the public health system so that every New Zealand, no matter what their age, had access to affordable care, says Jim Anderton MP for Wigram and Progressive Party leader.
“That includes what we already spend on free dental care for under 18 year olds (about $120 million); plus the millions we spend on treating severe cases when people turn up in hospital emergency rooms,” Jim Anderton said today.
Jim Anderton outlined his proposals for subsidised dental care to the annual conference of the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society. This year marks 90 years since the School Dental Service was established, the first of its kind in the world.
“Fifty percent of New Zealanders do not visit the dentist regularly, and many of them turn up at emergency wards. You can see the queues at hospitals across New Zealand - just like a third world country,” says Jim Anderton.
“The last Labour Progressive government extended free dental care to all under 18s so that adolescents who were not at school or enrolled at a dentist, and therefore not covered, can now get free care.
“Former Labour Minister of Health, Annette King introduced one hundred mobile dental clinics to service schools, and the first ever dedicated Community Oral Health Services to target adolescents. Members of the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society are in the process of rolling out these changes.
“I believe we could roll out a subsidised dental system in stages, in the same way we introduced affordable GP visits while in government. We’ve already targeted the under 18s. Other vulnerable groups include retired New Zealanders and pregnant mothers.
“Unfortunately under this National government there isn’t the political will to do anything about dental care. Tony Ryall has removed oral health completely, as a health target.”
“Funding required for a subsidised system could be raised either through income tax, or by a small ACC type earner’s levy, in return for a lifetime of free or affordable dental treatment. Research into options continues, in consultation with the dental industry,” Jim Anderton said.
The State of the Nation's teeth
23/04/10 20:18 Filed in: Speeches
The State of the Nation's teeth 90 years on - How are we doing?
Jim Anderton’s speech at the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society Conference
Thank you for inviting me tonight. This is probably the only time I’ll get a chance to give a speech in a brewery.
Some of you may be aware I am part of a national campaign to increase the legal drinking age and get rid of alcohol advertising. The alcohol industry doesn’t like that idea much.
There’s even a radio ad at the moment which advertises the latest party pills, and it starts by saying ‘Don’t let Uncle Jim ruin the party’!
So we make a fine team. I’m taking away their drugs and alcohol, and you’re taking away their sweets, lollies and sugary drinks!
But I don’t want to sound too negative tonight. Especially as we all have a reputation as reasonably serious people. Dentists and dental therapists always seem to get a bad rap.
Up till the 1980s, Kiwi kids used to tell their parents, ‘We’re off to the murder house today.’
They meant they were off for a check up. A dental nurse and a bus would arrive outside the primary school to carry the kids off to the murder house.
The parents themselves were raised on films where the dentist was often evil and probably insane; or otherwise a bumbling fool played by one of the Three Stooges or Groucho Marx.
There is a serous side to tonight though. Each of you here knows that the lack of affordable dental health care is a very grave problem in New Zealand.
Fifty per cent of New Zealanders do not receive regular dental care. Some even end up in a hospital emergency department where they get their teeth removed. There are queues of people at hospitals across New Zealand from 5am in the morning, waiting for pain relief or extraction - just like a third world country.
It’s a shock that there isn’t more outrage about this. A high level of untreated decay is a classic sign of poverty. Perhaps if people knew you could die from dental decay there would be more political action. We’ll know more about who is or isn’t seeing the dentist later this year when the results of a nationwide survey of the nation’s teeth are released.
This is the first time in twenty years that we’ve done a survey like this. It’s long overdue.
There’s some good news though; the last Labour and Progressive government extended free dental care to all kids under 18 years.
Tonight I’d like to pay tribute to my colleague, the former Minister of Health - and former school dental nurse - Annette King. She extended the under 18’s scheme to cover kids who were not at school or enrolled at a dentist. Before that, these kids fell through the cracks and didn’t qualify for free dental care.
She restored the School Dental Service which was in danger of disappearing all together after the previous National government had closed all the training schools. The number of therapists had dropped from 1000 in 1990 to a mere 400 by 1999.
Annette also made dental therapists a stand alone profession for the first time. That meant you were recognised for your skills, and you could practice on adults. Which means that if we did have a government which wanted to roll out affordable care beyond 18 year olds, we would have the capacity to do it.
The new dedicated Community Oral Health Services are targeting teenagers in the community. So are the hundred mobile clinics being introduced across the country over the next three years to service schools.
I’m looking forward to visiting the first of the purpose built community centre’s in Gisborne in the coming weeks.
I know you have worked hard to roll out this new scheme. I’d like to thank all of you here (and those who are absent) for your huge efforts in making Annette King’s policy decision in parliament a reality.
Reconfiguring child and adolescent oral health services has not been easy. It’s involved Chief Dental Officers and their teams, and people like Dr Robin Whyman who is not here tonight, and Dr Tim Mackay who is.
It’s involved dental therapists, managers, clinicians and support staff across the country.
We made history when New Zealand was the first country in the world to establish the School Dental Service, 90 years ago.
You are making history again.
My advice from the Ministry of Health this week is that although it’s early days to evaluate the success of the new scheme, you will achieve your target of reaching 60% of all eligible adolescents across New Zealand in the first year or so. That’s great news and we’ll keep monitoring progress.
90 years ago
It’s an historic time; this year marks the 90th anniversary since the School Dental Service was set up. I have a direct link in my office to that day 90 years ago when the idea for the school service began.
One of my research staff, David Cuthbert, who has worked for many hours on our dental policy, is related to the man who played a pivotal role in setting up the School Dental Service.
His great uncle was a man called John Llewellyn Saunders - ‘Llew’ to his family. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear that I don’t like smoking. But in the case of Llew I have to admit that smoking saved his life - and helped create the School Dental Service.
Like many men of his generation he went off to war in 1914-15. He was full of dreams for a fully funded dental service in New Zealand, and determined to survive the war so he could come back and make it happen.
He ended up at Gallipoli and the Western Front, which didn’t bode well for his future or the future of our community dental health services. He got hit by a sniper and thought he had been seriously injured. But the bullet had hit the cigarette tin in his chest pocket. He came back to New Zealand more determined than ever to introduce a fully funded state dental service. His great nephew in my office tells me the family still has that dented cigarette tin.
Llew had been shocked by the appalling state of dental health revealed by the wartime inspection of army recruits. He had a sense of urgency, a determination to make a difference that wouldn’t be out of place today. But he’d be encouraged to see people like you working in schools and the community delivering a free and affordable service to young New Zealanders.
At the time that Llew and his colleagues were designing the first School Dental Service, there was of course a private system of dentistry which was going from strength to strength.
Llew was like the 'Indiana Jones' of dentistry; He had a brave, can-do attitude. He was doing god's work and getting shot at. Those of you here tonight have picked up the fight where Llew left off. He succeeded in getting the first School Dental Service up and running. He believed a service made up of trained women could provide a much needed dental service to New Zealand children. He helped to create a school of dentistry to improve the quality of care.
And after his war time experience, he was part of setting up the New Zealand Dental Corps which looked after the teeth of soldiers serving overseas. Now we have to pick up the baton.
90 years on, who’s not getting dental care?
In the last election I argued for the introduction of affordable dental care for all New Zealanders - adults included.
I have been encouraged by the support I’ve received, and I have no doubt that we can achieve Llew’s dream of a fully developed state system of some kind.
The New Zealand Dental Association has agreed to look at the research from my office. We have costed various models for a subsidised system.
The Progressive Party is developing practical policies, and we’re doing it in consultation with dentists, dental therapists and hygienists. I’ve had many letters and calls, in support of this campaign.
Grey Power branches across the country have been in touch; The New Zealand Dental Therapists’ Association, the Nurses Organisation and many other organisations and individuals have also shown their support. But there are considerable hurdles to overcome.
The most vulnerable people in our society are unfortunately still the under 18s.
As Health Minister in 2008, Labour’s David Cunliffe issued a list a ten health targets. 'Improving oral health' was the second target.
When Tony Ryall became Health Minister he issued 'a slimmed down set of health targets’ - from ten to six. Oral health was not one of them
I’m realistic about what it will take to introduce an affordable public dental system for everyone. It will have to be done in stages; in the same way we introduced affordable GP visits, starting with the youngest followed by the oldest.
It was right to focus on 0-18 year olds first. Now we have to identify all vulnerable groups and target them. Once these kids leave your care, they are at risk. From the age of 18 many of these young adults will probably never go to the dentist. Some of them don’t see the dentist again for ten to twenty years.
When they do finally turn up at the dentists, the problems can be so big it’s almost impossible and too costly to treat them. Cost is a significant barrier. That’s one of the first things we have to fix. But we also have to incentivise them to go to the dentist, and get them used to looking after their own teeth. That will involve an education program together with a public campaign which is long overdue.
Another vulnerable group is pregnant women. Not only are their teeth at risk during pregnancy, but as mothers they will set habits for dental care at home with their children.
That’s why affordable treatment for the adult population is so important.
I’ve never understood why pregnant women get free GP visits during their pregnancy, but not free visits to the dentist.
The problems start before kids get to see therapists like you. They start between the ages of 0-5. Many parents do not know that their children’s teeth are forming before they are born. Although the 0-5 age group is entitled to free dental care, some new mothers are not aware of this.
The dangers of sugary fruit juices, sweetened milk or fizzy drinks are not sufficiently spelt out to new parents. I’m encouraged to see that at least Plunket and other early child support services will be doing more in the future to include information on dental care and the dangers of sugary drinks.
This was an initiative set up by the New Zealand Dental Association, Plunket and Colgate.
The next big problem we have is New Zealanders in retirement.
It’s not fair, but it’s a fact of life, that as you get older, the care of your teeth and gums becomes a bigger problem. In my parent’s day, teeth were extracted and false teeth provided, often as a 21st birthday present!
The baby boomer generation will go into old age with their own teeth, often heavily filled and a number of them missing.
I heard of a couple of old friends the other day. One was in his 90s and close to death. The friend of the dying man, who’d recently, spent all his life’s savings on his teeth, asked his friend:
“Will you do me a favour? Will you tell me if they have free dental care in heaven?”
The dying man replies: “You’re my best friend. I’ll do this for you.”
And then he dies. Next day the friend hears a ghostly voice and realises it’s his old friend.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” says the ghost. “The good news is that there’s free dental care for everyone in heaven.”
“The bad news is - you’re booked in on Wednesday.”
Most retired New Zealanders (75%) live on their superannuation income alone. People in retirement homes are particularly vulnerable. They often don’t get the treatment they need.
I’m pleased to hear that the Dentist’s Association is about to roll out training for rest home workers on how to better manage dental care in rest homes.
What are the options for affordable dental care?
I believe that affordable dental care for everyone is achievable. Just like I believed that we could have our own New Zealand owned bank - Kiwibank - when everyone told me it couldn’t be done.
Llew’s dream - 90 years ago - of affordable or free care for everyone is closer today than it first appears.
I would like to see dental care brought into New Zealand’s general health system. Our research tell us that it would cost less than $1 billion to finance basic dental care for the whole population. That includes the money we already spend on free visits for under 18 year olds. And it includes the cost of those who end up in emergency departments.
We could raise this money either through income tax, or through a small ACC type earner’s levy in return for a life time of free or affordable dental treatment.
We’ll actually save money by promoting prevention and helping new parents introduce good habits for their children. We would save money by putting fluoride in the water in more places across New Zealand. I know this continues to be controversial, and you have been discussing this at your conference.
The anti-fluoride lobby should let the facts get in the way of their prejudice. On average the addition of fluoride in drinking water reduces tooth decay in children by at least 30% and strengthens the teeth of adults.
We could be on the brink of achieving affordable dental care. It’s possible, it’s affordable and it’s a social tragedy that half our population doesn’t get the dental care they need.
What we don’t have at the moment is the political will to make it happen.
But when you look back at the milestones in dental care over the last 90 years, it hasn’t been politicians who have led the call for affordable care. It’s been people like you.
Llew had to personally lobby Peter Fraser, Minister of Health in the first Labour government to expand the School Dental Service to cover teenagers.
Without people like Llew however, there wouldn’t be any school or community dental service at all. Without people like you, an ex-dental nurse by the name of Annette King wouldn’t have been able to win the argument in parliament to extend free dental care to all under 18 year olds.
She wouldn’t have been able to bring back the training of dental therapists, central to Llew’s dream of free dental care for children.
The next milestone is up to you. You have to go out there and create the political will to make affordable care a reality for all New Zealanders. We must pool our knowledge and our efforts to make a final push.
That’s the only way we will realise Llew’s dream, 90 years ago, of an affordable, high quality dental care system within the reach of every New Zealander.
Jim Anderton’s speech at the New Zealand School and Community Oral Health Services Society Conference
Thank you for inviting me tonight. This is probably the only time I’ll get a chance to give a speech in a brewery.
Some of you may be aware I am part of a national campaign to increase the legal drinking age and get rid of alcohol advertising. The alcohol industry doesn’t like that idea much.
There’s even a radio ad at the moment which advertises the latest party pills, and it starts by saying ‘Don’t let Uncle Jim ruin the party’!
So we make a fine team. I’m taking away their drugs and alcohol, and you’re taking away their sweets, lollies and sugary drinks!
But I don’t want to sound too negative tonight. Especially as we all have a reputation as reasonably serious people. Dentists and dental therapists always seem to get a bad rap.
Up till the 1980s, Kiwi kids used to tell their parents, ‘We’re off to the murder house today.’
They meant they were off for a check up. A dental nurse and a bus would arrive outside the primary school to carry the kids off to the murder house.
The parents themselves were raised on films where the dentist was often evil and probably insane; or otherwise a bumbling fool played by one of the Three Stooges or Groucho Marx.
There is a serous side to tonight though. Each of you here knows that the lack of affordable dental health care is a very grave problem in New Zealand.
Fifty per cent of New Zealanders do not receive regular dental care. Some even end up in a hospital emergency department where they get their teeth removed. There are queues of people at hospitals across New Zealand from 5am in the morning, waiting for pain relief or extraction - just like a third world country.
It’s a shock that there isn’t more outrage about this. A high level of untreated decay is a classic sign of poverty. Perhaps if people knew you could die from dental decay there would be more political action. We’ll know more about who is or isn’t seeing the dentist later this year when the results of a nationwide survey of the nation’s teeth are released.
This is the first time in twenty years that we’ve done a survey like this. It’s long overdue.
There’s some good news though; the last Labour and Progressive government extended free dental care to all kids under 18 years.
Tonight I’d like to pay tribute to my colleague, the former Minister of Health - and former school dental nurse - Annette King. She extended the under 18’s scheme to cover kids who were not at school or enrolled at a dentist. Before that, these kids fell through the cracks and didn’t qualify for free dental care.
She restored the School Dental Service which was in danger of disappearing all together after the previous National government had closed all the training schools. The number of therapists had dropped from 1000 in 1990 to a mere 400 by 1999.
Annette also made dental therapists a stand alone profession for the first time. That meant you were recognised for your skills, and you could practice on adults. Which means that if we did have a government which wanted to roll out affordable care beyond 18 year olds, we would have the capacity to do it.
The new dedicated Community Oral Health Services are targeting teenagers in the community. So are the hundred mobile clinics being introduced across the country over the next three years to service schools.
I’m looking forward to visiting the first of the purpose built community centre’s in Gisborne in the coming weeks.
I know you have worked hard to roll out this new scheme. I’d like to thank all of you here (and those who are absent) for your huge efforts in making Annette King’s policy decision in parliament a reality.
Reconfiguring child and adolescent oral health services has not been easy. It’s involved Chief Dental Officers and their teams, and people like Dr Robin Whyman who is not here tonight, and Dr Tim Mackay who is.
It’s involved dental therapists, managers, clinicians and support staff across the country.
We made history when New Zealand was the first country in the world to establish the School Dental Service, 90 years ago.
You are making history again.
My advice from the Ministry of Health this week is that although it’s early days to evaluate the success of the new scheme, you will achieve your target of reaching 60% of all eligible adolescents across New Zealand in the first year or so. That’s great news and we’ll keep monitoring progress.
90 years ago
It’s an historic time; this year marks the 90th anniversary since the School Dental Service was set up. I have a direct link in my office to that day 90 years ago when the idea for the school service began.
One of my research staff, David Cuthbert, who has worked for many hours on our dental policy, is related to the man who played a pivotal role in setting up the School Dental Service.
His great uncle was a man called John Llewellyn Saunders - ‘Llew’ to his family. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear that I don’t like smoking. But in the case of Llew I have to admit that smoking saved his life - and helped create the School Dental Service.
Like many men of his generation he went off to war in 1914-15. He was full of dreams for a fully funded dental service in New Zealand, and determined to survive the war so he could come back and make it happen.
He ended up at Gallipoli and the Western Front, which didn’t bode well for his future or the future of our community dental health services. He got hit by a sniper and thought he had been seriously injured. But the bullet had hit the cigarette tin in his chest pocket. He came back to New Zealand more determined than ever to introduce a fully funded state dental service. His great nephew in my office tells me the family still has that dented cigarette tin.
Llew had been shocked by the appalling state of dental health revealed by the wartime inspection of army recruits. He had a sense of urgency, a determination to make a difference that wouldn’t be out of place today. But he’d be encouraged to see people like you working in schools and the community delivering a free and affordable service to young New Zealanders.
At the time that Llew and his colleagues were designing the first School Dental Service, there was of course a private system of dentistry which was going from strength to strength.
Llew was like the 'Indiana Jones' of dentistry; He had a brave, can-do attitude. He was doing god's work and getting shot at. Those of you here tonight have picked up the fight where Llew left off. He succeeded in getting the first School Dental Service up and running. He believed a service made up of trained women could provide a much needed dental service to New Zealand children. He helped to create a school of dentistry to improve the quality of care.
And after his war time experience, he was part of setting up the New Zealand Dental Corps which looked after the teeth of soldiers serving overseas. Now we have to pick up the baton.
90 years on, who’s not getting dental care?
In the last election I argued for the introduction of affordable dental care for all New Zealanders - adults included.
I have been encouraged by the support I’ve received, and I have no doubt that we can achieve Llew’s dream of a fully developed state system of some kind.
The New Zealand Dental Association has agreed to look at the research from my office. We have costed various models for a subsidised system.
The Progressive Party is developing practical policies, and we’re doing it in consultation with dentists, dental therapists and hygienists. I’ve had many letters and calls, in support of this campaign.
Grey Power branches across the country have been in touch; The New Zealand Dental Therapists’ Association, the Nurses Organisation and many other organisations and individuals have also shown their support. But there are considerable hurdles to overcome.
The most vulnerable people in our society are unfortunately still the under 18s.
As Health Minister in 2008, Labour’s David Cunliffe issued a list a ten health targets. 'Improving oral health' was the second target.
When Tony Ryall became Health Minister he issued 'a slimmed down set of health targets’ - from ten to six. Oral health was not one of them
I’m realistic about what it will take to introduce an affordable public dental system for everyone. It will have to be done in stages; in the same way we introduced affordable GP visits, starting with the youngest followed by the oldest.
It was right to focus on 0-18 year olds first. Now we have to identify all vulnerable groups and target them. Once these kids leave your care, they are at risk. From the age of 18 many of these young adults will probably never go to the dentist. Some of them don’t see the dentist again for ten to twenty years.
When they do finally turn up at the dentists, the problems can be so big it’s almost impossible and too costly to treat them. Cost is a significant barrier. That’s one of the first things we have to fix. But we also have to incentivise them to go to the dentist, and get them used to looking after their own teeth. That will involve an education program together with a public campaign which is long overdue.
Another vulnerable group is pregnant women. Not only are their teeth at risk during pregnancy, but as mothers they will set habits for dental care at home with their children.
That’s why affordable treatment for the adult population is so important.
I’ve never understood why pregnant women get free GP visits during their pregnancy, but not free visits to the dentist.
The problems start before kids get to see therapists like you. They start between the ages of 0-5. Many parents do not know that their children’s teeth are forming before they are born. Although the 0-5 age group is entitled to free dental care, some new mothers are not aware of this.
The dangers of sugary fruit juices, sweetened milk or fizzy drinks are not sufficiently spelt out to new parents. I’m encouraged to see that at least Plunket and other early child support services will be doing more in the future to include information on dental care and the dangers of sugary drinks.
This was an initiative set up by the New Zealand Dental Association, Plunket and Colgate.
The next big problem we have is New Zealanders in retirement.
It’s not fair, but it’s a fact of life, that as you get older, the care of your teeth and gums becomes a bigger problem. In my parent’s day, teeth were extracted and false teeth provided, often as a 21st birthday present!
The baby boomer generation will go into old age with their own teeth, often heavily filled and a number of them missing.
I heard of a couple of old friends the other day. One was in his 90s and close to death. The friend of the dying man, who’d recently, spent all his life’s savings on his teeth, asked his friend:
“Will you do me a favour? Will you tell me if they have free dental care in heaven?”
The dying man replies: “You’re my best friend. I’ll do this for you.”
And then he dies. Next day the friend hears a ghostly voice and realises it’s his old friend.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” says the ghost. “The good news is that there’s free dental care for everyone in heaven.”
“The bad news is - you’re booked in on Wednesday.”
Most retired New Zealanders (75%) live on their superannuation income alone. People in retirement homes are particularly vulnerable. They often don’t get the treatment they need.
I’m pleased to hear that the Dentist’s Association is about to roll out training for rest home workers on how to better manage dental care in rest homes.
What are the options for affordable dental care?
I believe that affordable dental care for everyone is achievable. Just like I believed that we could have our own New Zealand owned bank - Kiwibank - when everyone told me it couldn’t be done.
Llew’s dream - 90 years ago - of affordable or free care for everyone is closer today than it first appears.
I would like to see dental care brought into New Zealand’s general health system. Our research tell us that it would cost less than $1 billion to finance basic dental care for the whole population. That includes the money we already spend on free visits for under 18 year olds. And it includes the cost of those who end up in emergency departments.
We could raise this money either through income tax, or through a small ACC type earner’s levy in return for a life time of free or affordable dental treatment.
We’ll actually save money by promoting prevention and helping new parents introduce good habits for their children. We would save money by putting fluoride in the water in more places across New Zealand. I know this continues to be controversial, and you have been discussing this at your conference.
The anti-fluoride lobby should let the facts get in the way of their prejudice. On average the addition of fluoride in drinking water reduces tooth decay in children by at least 30% and strengthens the teeth of adults.
We could be on the brink of achieving affordable dental care. It’s possible, it’s affordable and it’s a social tragedy that half our population doesn’t get the dental care they need.
What we don’t have at the moment is the political will to make it happen.
But when you look back at the milestones in dental care over the last 90 years, it hasn’t been politicians who have led the call for affordable care. It’s been people like you.
Llew had to personally lobby Peter Fraser, Minister of Health in the first Labour government to expand the School Dental Service to cover teenagers.
Without people like Llew however, there wouldn’t be any school or community dental service at all. Without people like you, an ex-dental nurse by the name of Annette King wouldn’t have been able to win the argument in parliament to extend free dental care to all under 18 year olds.
She wouldn’t have been able to bring back the training of dental therapists, central to Llew’s dream of free dental care for children.
The next milestone is up to you. You have to go out there and create the political will to make affordable care a reality for all New Zealanders. We must pool our knowledge and our efforts to make a final push.
That’s the only way we will realise Llew’s dream, 90 years ago, of an affordable, high quality dental care system within the reach of every New Zealander.
Government favours alcohol industry
22/04/10 17:26 Filed in: News Releases
Minister responsible for the government’s alcohol policy, Peter Dunne today dismissed Professor Doug Sellman, an addiction specialist, and 450 senior doctors and nurses as a group of people who don’t like a drink of wine at a wedding.
“These people are campaigning to stop the harm and violence that erupts as a result of alcohol abuse, particularly the harm done to young New Zealanders,” Jim Anderton said.
“They are not campaigning to stop people enjoying a glass of wine at a wedding, and to suggest that shows how ill-equipped Peter Dunne is to be a minister anywhere near alcohol regulation.
“Although Peter Dunne claims to know what people like Professor Sellman thinks, Mr Dunne could not name the 5+ Solutions that Mr Sellman and Alcohol Action are proposing.
“For the record Mr Dunne, the 5+ Solutions are as follows: Raise the alcohol price, Raise the purchase age, Reduce availability, Reduce marketing and advertising and Increase drink driving counter measures. Plus increase treatment opportunities.
“Mr Dunne could also not name the 10 things that the alcohol industry won’t tell you about alcohol. They are, as follows:
“Mr Dunne misled the House today in claiming to have met with 47 alcohol groups not associated with the alcohol industry. He also provided TV3 with a list of these meetings. Eugene Bingham, producer of TV3’s 60 Minutes has analysed each meeting on his blog.
“Most of these meetings were nothing to do with alcohol regulation.
“23 were with Ministry of Health officials or ALAC – both of whom report to him – three were with the Law Commission, two were with the police. Four meetings were with other official groups of various types: the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, the WHO, a ministerial council on drug strategies in Brisbane, and the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs. Three were speeches he gave at conferences.
“That leaves five meetings. TV3 phoned the Downtown Community Ministry who Mr Dunne met with on December 2. They said the meeting was not specifically about alcohol.
“He met with the NGO Provider Forum on October 19. The agenda for that meeting, on the Ministry of Health’s website, shows that Mr Dunne spoke on the topic of ‘NGO Challenges and Opportunities for Changing Times’.
“He met with the Life Education Trust on May 5, but not specifically about alcohol.
“That leaves two meetings: one with the Salvation Army, which told TV3 they had indeed talked to the minister about alcohol issues, specifically taxation of liquor; and one with respected Scottish expert Dr Peter Rice, brought to New Zealand by ALAC for its conference last year.
“He did have some meetings with groups other than the alcohol industry. But not 47, and these meetings cannot be described a lobbying,” says Jim Anderton.
“These people are campaigning to stop the harm and violence that erupts as a result of alcohol abuse, particularly the harm done to young New Zealanders,” Jim Anderton said.
“They are not campaigning to stop people enjoying a glass of wine at a wedding, and to suggest that shows how ill-equipped Peter Dunne is to be a minister anywhere near alcohol regulation.
“Although Peter Dunne claims to know what people like Professor Sellman thinks, Mr Dunne could not name the 5+ Solutions that Mr Sellman and Alcohol Action are proposing.
“For the record Mr Dunne, the 5+ Solutions are as follows: Raise the alcohol price, Raise the purchase age, Reduce availability, Reduce marketing and advertising and Increase drink driving counter measures. Plus increase treatment opportunities.
“Mr Dunne could also not name the 10 things that the alcohol industry won’t tell you about alcohol. They are, as follows:
- Alcohol is a highly intoxicating drug which is fairly easy to overdose on
- Alcohol can cause brain damage
- Alcohol causes aggression
- Alcohol is fattening in social drinkers
- Alcohol can cause cancer
- Alcohol cardio-protection has been talked up
- The alcohol industry actively markets alcohol to young people
- Low risk drinking means drinking low amounts of alcohol
- A lot of the alcohol industry’s profit comes from heavy drinking
- There is a solution to the national alcohol crisis: ‘The 5+ Solution’.
“Mr Dunne misled the House today in claiming to have met with 47 alcohol groups not associated with the alcohol industry. He also provided TV3 with a list of these meetings. Eugene Bingham, producer of TV3’s 60 Minutes has analysed each meeting on his blog.
“Most of these meetings were nothing to do with alcohol regulation.
“23 were with Ministry of Health officials or ALAC – both of whom report to him – three were with the Law Commission, two were with the police. Four meetings were with other official groups of various types: the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, the WHO, a ministerial council on drug strategies in Brisbane, and the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs. Three were speeches he gave at conferences.
“That leaves five meetings. TV3 phoned the Downtown Community Ministry who Mr Dunne met with on December 2. They said the meeting was not specifically about alcohol.
“He met with the NGO Provider Forum on October 19. The agenda for that meeting, on the Ministry of Health’s website, shows that Mr Dunne spoke on the topic of ‘NGO Challenges and Opportunities for Changing Times’.
“He met with the Life Education Trust on May 5, but not specifically about alcohol.
“That leaves two meetings: one with the Salvation Army, which told TV3 they had indeed talked to the minister about alcohol issues, specifically taxation of liquor; and one with respected Scottish expert Dr Peter Rice, brought to New Zealand by ALAC for its conference last year.
“He did have some meetings with groups other than the alcohol industry. But not 47, and these meetings cannot be described a lobbying,” says Jim Anderton.
Support for changes to alcohol law
22/04/10 17:24 Filed in: News Releases
If the reports are accurate, Jim Anderton calls on the government to act on the leaked Law Commission’s recommendations on alcohol controls, which appear to include a call to increase the drinking age to twenty and restrict the availability of alcohol.
“However I’m not hopeful that with a Minister like Peter Dunne responsible for alcohol the government will have the guts to do anything this brave,” says Jim Anderton.
“This is a man who refused to meet with Doug Sellman who represents 450 senior doctors and nurses across New Zealand calling for changes to the law. But he was prepared to meet on numerous occasions with representatives of the alcohol industry.
“He said he didn’t meet with Mr Sellman or his colleagues because he ‘knows what they think.’
“So he had to meet with the alcohol industry on numerous occasions to understand what they thought?”
“A few weeks ago new figures showed that violent offending was up by nine per cent last year - an increase of twenty thousand more victims of crime under John Key's National Government.
“The police know, and so do the doctors and nurses patching people up, that alcohol abuse is a major cause of that increase in violent crime. Three out of five people who are arrested are under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested. The problem is getting worse every year, not better, and that is largely because alcohol is becoming more available.”
Leaked recommendations from the Law Commission, published by KiwiBlog (an on-line blog) appear to call for a 50 percent increase in the excise tax on alcohol; an increase from eighteen to twenty in the purchasing age for alcohol; banning the sale of liquor at off licences after 10pm; forcing bars and nightclubs to refuse to allow people to enter after 2am; and a nationwide closing time of 4am.
“The spotlight is on the government now to see if they will have the courage to act,” says Jim Anderton.
“However I’m not hopeful that with a Minister like Peter Dunne responsible for alcohol the government will have the guts to do anything this brave,” says Jim Anderton.
“This is a man who refused to meet with Doug Sellman who represents 450 senior doctors and nurses across New Zealand calling for changes to the law. But he was prepared to meet on numerous occasions with representatives of the alcohol industry.
“He said he didn’t meet with Mr Sellman or his colleagues because he ‘knows what they think.’
“So he had to meet with the alcohol industry on numerous occasions to understand what they thought?”
“A few weeks ago new figures showed that violent offending was up by nine per cent last year - an increase of twenty thousand more victims of crime under John Key's National Government.
“The police know, and so do the doctors and nurses patching people up, that alcohol abuse is a major cause of that increase in violent crime. Three out of five people who are arrested are under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested. The problem is getting worse every year, not better, and that is largely because alcohol is becoming more available.”
Leaked recommendations from the Law Commission, published by KiwiBlog (an on-line blog) appear to call for a 50 percent increase in the excise tax on alcohol; an increase from eighteen to twenty in the purchasing age for alcohol; banning the sale of liquor at off licences after 10pm; forcing bars and nightclubs to refuse to allow people to enter after 2am; and a nationwide closing time of 4am.
“The spotlight is on the government now to see if they will have the courage to act,” says Jim Anderton.
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
21/04/10 15:22 Filed in: Speeches
Jim Anderton’s speech in parliament on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
We are told that there was standing ovation for Pita Sharples’ speech from members of the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous issues. I wonder whether the following countries stood up, and whether Pita Sharples noticed: Zimbabwe, Ethopia, Fiji, Iran, Israel, Burma, Rwanda and Somalia.
We do not need in this country any lessons from countries like those on how to treat indigenous peoples. We need no lessons whatsoever.
It is egregious for the Prime Minister and others to crawl to the likes of that forum with that membership and to tell us things will change. Nothing will change. This is just an idle piece of writing that means nothing whatsoever.
New Zealand has done more for the indigenous people of this country than all of those countries have put together twice over. We did not need any lessons from the united Nations Permanent Forum of indigenous Issues to do that.
New Zealand is honoured around the world for the way in which it introduced Waitangi Tribunal resolutions, and the way in which we have settled grievances with indigenous people of this country. For us to seek the solace of countries on that list and many more makes me ashamed of the Parliament of this country.
It makes me ashamed that we would debate with some kind of glee the fact that we received a standing ovation from countries like that at the UN.
Let me say that New Zealand is already widely acknowledged as a world leader in recognising such rights and it has a longstanding process through the Waitangi Tribunal for putting that recognition into practical effect to the very real advantage of righting past injustices of the Maori indigenous people of this country.
The UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on the other hand, is simply an expression of pious hopes without any necessary practical effect whatsoever.
It has no practical effect; it is not binding. In fact, Mr Power, the Minister of Justice, told Parliament that the Government is considering the different meanings of the aspirational text. Well, which meaning did the government sign up to/ Did it not know? Has the Government read it? Does it know what it means?
The answer to all those questions is No. It has nothing to do with it. It is to do with the deal between National and the Maori Party to get the Maori Party to run alongside the Government.
It is idle for the Maori Party to claim some kind of great triumph for getting the countries I mentioned earlier to stand up. The Maori Party should be ashamed of itself for thinking that this declaration is some kind of triumph. It is part of the agony that we experience as we watch and see this take place.
We are told that there was standing ovation for Pita Sharples’ speech from members of the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous issues. I wonder whether the following countries stood up, and whether Pita Sharples noticed: Zimbabwe, Ethopia, Fiji, Iran, Israel, Burma, Rwanda and Somalia.
We do not need in this country any lessons from countries like those on how to treat indigenous peoples. We need no lessons whatsoever.
It is egregious for the Prime Minister and others to crawl to the likes of that forum with that membership and to tell us things will change. Nothing will change. This is just an idle piece of writing that means nothing whatsoever.
New Zealand has done more for the indigenous people of this country than all of those countries have put together twice over. We did not need any lessons from the united Nations Permanent Forum of indigenous Issues to do that.
New Zealand is honoured around the world for the way in which it introduced Waitangi Tribunal resolutions, and the way in which we have settled grievances with indigenous people of this country. For us to seek the solace of countries on that list and many more makes me ashamed of the Parliament of this country.
It makes me ashamed that we would debate with some kind of glee the fact that we received a standing ovation from countries like that at the UN.
Let me say that New Zealand is already widely acknowledged as a world leader in recognising such rights and it has a longstanding process through the Waitangi Tribunal for putting that recognition into practical effect to the very real advantage of righting past injustices of the Maori indigenous people of this country.
The UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, on the other hand, is simply an expression of pious hopes without any necessary practical effect whatsoever.
It has no practical effect; it is not binding. In fact, Mr Power, the Minister of Justice, told Parliament that the Government is considering the different meanings of the aspirational text. Well, which meaning did the government sign up to/ Did it not know? Has the Government read it? Does it know what it means?
The answer to all those questions is No. It has nothing to do with it. It is to do with the deal between National and the Maori Party to get the Maori Party to run alongside the Government.
It is idle for the Maori Party to claim some kind of great triumph for getting the countries I mentioned earlier to stand up. The Maori Party should be ashamed of itself for thinking that this declaration is some kind of triumph. It is part of the agony that we experience as we watch and see this take place.
Beer in a can recipe for trouble
02/04/10 16:27 Filed in: News Releases
The police don’t want it; rugby fans don’t need it; and I don’t like it. Selling beer in cans at the Rugby World Cup could damage our international reputation. It is not worth the risk,” Jim Anderton said.
Rugby World Cup minister, Murray McCully has announced that spectators at world cup games will be able to drink beer from cans.
“All it would take is for a few intoxicated fans to use cans as missiles and chuck them at players in front of a world-wide television audience of over 500 million people. Our international reputation would be tarnished for years.
“This is our moment in the world spotlight. We won’t get another chance like this for decades. Murray McCully thinks it is not worth the cost of putting a system in our stadiums so that we can serve beer in plastic cups.
“It might cost $1 million to install that system at Eden Park but that is money well spent if it can protect our reputation overseas. The loss to New Zealand if a negative incident happens could be many more times that.
“The only people who benefit from cans at games is Heineken. They get their branding on every can. They wouldn’t if beer was served in plastic cups.
“The National government is prioritising the business needs of a beer company over New Zealand’s image as a good place to visit and do business. If a negative incident happens and gets transmitted across the world via YouTube and twitter in a matter of minutes, it will be on Murray McCully’s head,” says Jim Anderton.
Rugby World Cup minister, Murray McCully has announced that spectators at world cup games will be able to drink beer from cans.
“All it would take is for a few intoxicated fans to use cans as missiles and chuck them at players in front of a world-wide television audience of over 500 million people. Our international reputation would be tarnished for years.
“This is our moment in the world spotlight. We won’t get another chance like this for decades. Murray McCully thinks it is not worth the cost of putting a system in our stadiums so that we can serve beer in plastic cups.
“It might cost $1 million to install that system at Eden Park but that is money well spent if it can protect our reputation overseas. The loss to New Zealand if a negative incident happens could be many more times that.
“The only people who benefit from cans at games is Heineken. They get their branding on every can. They wouldn’t if beer was served in plastic cups.
“The National government is prioritising the business needs of a beer company over New Zealand’s image as a good place to visit and do business. If a negative incident happens and gets transmitted across the world via YouTube and twitter in a matter of minutes, it will be on Murray McCully’s head,” says Jim Anderton.
Rugby song sounds like beer ad from the 1990s
02/04/10 16:26 Filed in: News Releases
“I would like to nominate Gary McCormick for New Zealand’s poet laureate because of his determination to campaign against the Rugby World Cup’s choice of theme song – an English song that sounds like an old beer ad from the 1990s,” says Jim Anderton.
“Prime Minister, John Key said today that he did not think it was ‘a missed opportunity to have a home grown song ring around the world’. So are we to understand that he approves of the use of an old English song, decades old?
“Of course it is a missed opportunity. Every other country would have picked a song which represented their own identity. It’s a chance to showcase our best musicians and our unique culture.
“We can’t blame Australia for promoting our musicians like Crowded House as their own, when we don’t even promote our own talent.”
The Rugby World Cup has chosen ‘Right Here, Right Now’ as the official theme song. It is a 1990 song originally recorded by UK band, Jesus Jones. The latest version has been covered by the Kiwi band, The Feelers.
“This is classic culture-cringe. We look like a country of covers bands. The truth is we have some wonderful home-grown artists and songs that have made it to the top of the charts internationally. Why not draw on this talent?
“Surely we could do better? It is not too late. I’d like to see another song. Why not a competition? That’s what we did when we hosted the commonwealth Games in 1974.
“In the meantime, I’ll be joining Gary McCormick and calling for a Kiwi song,” says Jim Anderton.
“Prime Minister, John Key said today that he did not think it was ‘a missed opportunity to have a home grown song ring around the world’. So are we to understand that he approves of the use of an old English song, decades old?
“Of course it is a missed opportunity. Every other country would have picked a song which represented their own identity. It’s a chance to showcase our best musicians and our unique culture.
“We can’t blame Australia for promoting our musicians like Crowded House as their own, when we don’t even promote our own talent.”
The Rugby World Cup has chosen ‘Right Here, Right Now’ as the official theme song. It is a 1990 song originally recorded by UK band, Jesus Jones. The latest version has been covered by the Kiwi band, The Feelers.
“This is classic culture-cringe. We look like a country of covers bands. The truth is we have some wonderful home-grown artists and songs that have made it to the top of the charts internationally. Why not draw on this talent?
“Surely we could do better? It is not too late. I’d like to see another song. Why not a competition? That’s what we did when we hosted the commonwealth Games in 1974.
“In the meantime, I’ll be joining Gary McCormick and calling for a Kiwi song,” says Jim Anderton.