§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he was first informed that armed forces personnel contracted malaria in Sierra Leone; and if he will make a statement. [126057]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 15 June 2000]: I was first informed on 26 May that Service personnel deployed to Sierra Leone had contracted malaria. At that time, there were seven confirmed cases among personnel who had deployed there.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops deployed to Sierra Leone returning to the UK have so far been diagnosed as having signs of malaria; and if he will make a statement. [125190]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 9 June 2000]: As of 12 June, 27 cases of malaria had been confirmed among the 4,500 personnel who had been deployed to Sierra Leone; a further three unconfirmed cases had been admitted to hospital for investigation. No anti-malaria tablet guarantees 100 per cent. protection: mefloquine, the preferred anti-malaria drug for the Sierra Leone region, is estimated to afford only 90–95 per cent. protection against malaria. In West Africa, where rates of transmission for malaria are far higher than in any other region, some cases of malaria are to be expected. Therefore the number of cases confirmed are within the medically expected numbers.