PUTTING YIAMOUYIANNIS INTO PERSPECTIVE

Few names crop up so often in the context of water fluoridation as tha t of John Yiamouyiannis, an American who has campaigned hard to stop t his public health measure not only in the United States but in other c ountries such as Britain. During 1993, Yiamouyiannis was given conside rable air time by the BBC, appearing on its prestigious You and yours and Nature programmes where he denigrated the efforts of local health authorities to reduce tooth decay by means of fluoridating their water supplies. His dramatic claims about fluoridation - in particular, tha t it increases people's risk of dying of cancer - must understandably alarm those who take them at face value. So just who is John Yiamouyia nnis? And do his allegations hold up? This review of his career is bas ed on publicly documented records and statements.