asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any research funded by the Ministry of Defence into the illnesses of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War has caused the Ministry to question the findings of research funded by the Government of the United States into the number of troops exposed to fall-out from the demolition by United States forces of the Iraqi chemical arms stored at Khamisiyah and elsewhere in southern Iraq in March 1991; and what is their estimate of the number of British troops exposed to the fall-out.[HL7283]
The key finding of epidemiological studies by US authorities into the demolitions carried out at Khamisiyah in March 1991 was that there was no evidence of significant health differences between exposed and non-exposed servicemen. Research funded by the Ministry of Defence into the ill health reported by UK veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf conflict has given us no reason to question the basic findings of this or other related research by US authorities. We published a Written Statement on 27 January 2005 (Official Report, column WS58) setting out the estimated number of UK service personnel who may have been within the area of possible exposure (with the closest some 130 kilometres from Khamisiyah). A copy of our paper Review of Modelling of the Demolitions at Khamisiyah in March 1991 and Implications for UK personnel is available in the Library of the House and on the Ministry of Defence website at www.mod.uk.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total funding to date on research into the illnesses of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War; and whether they have received information on the cost to date of similar research funded by the Government of the United States and on any projected increases in such funding.[HL7284]
I refer my noble friend to the answer I gave on 22 June (Official Report, col. WA 99).
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they have taken to ensure that British veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War are kept informed of research into Gulf War illnesses funded by the Government of the United States; and what was the most recent date on which veterans were updated on its findings.[HL7285]
The Government does not routinely publicise the findings of research into Gulf veterans' illnesses sponsored by other nations because, in common with other scientific research, findings are generally published by the authors. In the case of US Government funded research, the findings are accessible on the Department of Veterans Affairs' website. The research in question is therefore already publicly accessible.