§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what inoculations were given to members of the British armed forces(a) prior to and (b) during the Gulf War for the purposes of health protection during the conflict. [99676]
§ Dr. MoonieThe immunisation programme for armed forces personnel in the Gulf conflict involved a number of vaccines. These can be can be divided into three categories: those which were part of the anti-biological warfare (BW) immunisation programme; routine Service health immunisations and travel and specific immunisations against the risks associated with individuals' particular employment. These are listed as follows.
Anti-biological Warfare immunisations
- Anthrax
- Pertussis
- Plague
Routine Service health immunisations
- Poliomyelitis
- Typhoid and Tetanus (TABT)
- Yellow fever
Travel and Occupational immunisations
- Cholera
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
Meningococcal meningitis
The majority of personnel deployed during Operation Granby whose routine immunisations would have been in date would not have required occupational immunisation.
Details of the anti-BW immunisation programme, including datasheets on the vaccines used, were published in the Ministry of Defence paper: "Background to the Use of Medical Countermeasures to Protect British Forces during the Gulf War (Operation Granby)" in October 1997. A further paper entitled "Implementation of the Immunisation Programme against Biological Warfare Agents for UK Forces during the Gulf Conflict 1990/1991" dated January 2000 provides details on how the anti-BW immunisation programme was implemented, including estimates of the numbers immunised and on the other immunisations given. Copies of both papers are available in the Library of the House and on the Ministry of Defence's website at: www.mod.uk/gulfwar/issues.