§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 24 July (WA 81–83) about mortality among Gulf veterans, whether they will now relate the comparisons made between the numbers of deaths and causes of deaths among Gulf veterans and the control group to (a) regular and (b) reservist members of the Armed Forces deployed to liberate Kuwait. [HL5679]
§ Lord BachOf the 52,323 regular members of the United Kingdom Armed Forces who were deployed to the Gulf between 1 September 1990 and 30 June 1991, 533 had died as at 30 June 2002. Of these, the underlying cause of death is known for 525 cases. In 204 cases death was disease-related and in 321 cases due to accidental causes. Of the 1,086 reservists and volunteers known to have deployed to the Gulf in the same period, there had been 18 deaths as at 30 June 2002. Of these, the underlying cause of death is known for 17 cases. In nine cases death was disease-related and in eight cases due to accidental causes. There is no statistically-significant difference in the mortality rates of the regulars or of the reservists and volunteers who deployed to the Gulf when compared to the Era comparison group. The Government are not able to provide a more detailed breakdown of cause of death information because this might lead to the identification of individuals.