HL Deb 24 January 2000 vol 608 cc170-1WA
Baroness Nicol

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have regarding the implementation of the immunisation programme against biological warfare agents for UK forces during the Gulf conflict 1990–91. [HL664]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

The Government's "New Beginning" policy statement set out the way forward for addressing the health concerns of Gulf veterans and included a commitment to establish a fact finding team to look into the implementation of the anti-biological warfare immunisation programme during the Gulf conflict. Their work has now been completed and we are today publishing a paper entitledImplementation of the immunisation programme against biological warfare agents for UK forces during the Gulf conflict 1990–91. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.

The publication of this paper reaffirms the Government's commitment to ensuring that Gulf veterans should have access to whatever information the Ministry of Defence possesses which might be relevant to their illnesses.

The deficiencies in the implementation of the 1990–91 anti-biological warfare immunisation programme have been, and continue to be, addressed in improvements to our current arrangements. When we again deployed to the Gulf in 1998, our immunisation programme was unclassified, all troops were fully briefed using standard material, the nature of the threat and the vaccine were described in detail and all records were updated, showing that the lessons of 1990–91 have been learned.

The report found that the voluntary nature of the immunisation programme operated as intended in the majority of units and locations. It confirms that no unusual or previously undisclosed immunisations were given during the Gulf conflict and also explains the codewords which were sometimes used for the vaccines.

Uptake of the anti-biological warfare immunisations in the early stages of the programme was high. Over 75 per cent of all personnel deployed to the Gulf region are likely to have had anthrax and pertussis, and in many units this approached 100 per cent. Uptake of the second anthrax and pertussis immunisations and the first plague was less and varied between and within formations. Uptake of the third anthrax and the second plague immunisation was rare.