§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
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Table 1: Deaths to UK Gulf Veterans11 April 1991–31 December 2004 Causes 2 Adjusted 3 Crude Mortality Adjusted3Mortality Adjusted395% Confidence ICD Chapter Cause of death Gulf Era Era Rate Ratio Rate Ratio Interval All deaths 687 712 688 0.96 0.99 (0.89–1.10) All cause coded deaths 678 700 678 0.96 0.99 (0.89–1.10) I-XVIII Disease related causes 305 366 341 0.83 0.88 (0.76–1.03) I Certain infectious and parasitic diseases 6 3 3 1.99 2.15 (0.50–9.35) II Neoplasms 138 154 141 0.89 0.97 (0.77–1.22) V Mental and behavioural disorders 11 18 17 0.61 0.65 (0.31–1.39) VI Diseases of the nervous system 10 11 11 0.90 0.91 (0.93–2.14) IX Diseases of the circulatory system 106 130 124 0.81 0.85 (0.65–1.10) X Diseases of the respiratory system 10 6 5 1.66 1.79 (0.59–5.41) XI Diseases of the digestive system 17 24 22 0.70 0.75 (0.40–1.43) III, IV, XII-XVIII All other disease related causes4 7 20 18 0.35 0.36 (0.15–0.91) XX External causes of mortality 373 334 337 1.11 1.10 (0.95–1.27) Transport accidents: 171 138 139 1.23 1.22 (0.97–1.53) Land transport accident: 140 114 115 1.22 1.20 (0.94–1.55) Pedestrian 17 6 7 2.82 2.62 (1.03–6.64) Motorcycle rider 38 32 32 1.18 1.17 (0.73–1.88) Car occupant5 41 32 32 1.27 1.26 (0.79–2.01) Other6 44 44 44 0.99 0.98 (0.64–1.50) Water transport 5 2 2 2.49 2.44 (0.46–12.86) Air and space transport 26 22 22 1.18 1.17 (0.67–2.06) Other external causes of accidental injury: 67 61 60 1.09 1.09 (0.77–1.56) Falls 7 6 6 1.16 1.24 (0.44–3.51) Exposure to inanimate mechanical forces 12 15 16 0.80 0.73 (0.33–1.58) Accidental drowning and submersion and other accidental threats to breathing 13 6 6 2.16 2.05 (0.76–5.55) Accidental poisoning by and exposure to noxious substances 15 15 14 0.99 1.01 (0.48–2.14) Accidental exposure to other and unspecified factors 16 12 11 1.33 1.39 (0.65–2.00) Other 4 7 6 0.57 0.60 (0.17–2.14) Intentional self-harm and events of undetermined intent7.8 120 110 112 1.09 1.06 (0.82–1.37) Assault 5 10 10 0.50 0.46 (0.15–1.38) As part of the Government's continuing commitment to openness and transparency on Gulf veterans' illnesses I am today publishing the regular data on the mortality of veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict. The most recent figures for the period 1 April 1991 to 31 December 2004 were published on 17 January 2005. The tables from that publication are set out below. Table 1 gives the causes of death to UK Gulf veterans over that period; table 2 shows the deaths due to neoplasms (cancers) among Gulf veterans.
As with previous information, the data for Gulf veterans are compared to those of a control group known as the Era cohort which is made up of Armed Forces personnel of a similar profile in terms of gender, service, regular/reservist status and rank, who were not deployed to the Gulf. Subsequent to the previous release of this data, further examination of trends in some cause-groups has revealed differences between the Gulf and Era cohort age groups: although each Era cohort age group was randomly sampled to be the same size as the corresponding Gulf cohort age group, those who were aged 40 years or over on 1 January 1991 who deployed to the Gulf were often younger than those sampled for the Era cohort. All figures for the Era cohort have therefore been adjusted to the single years of age structure of the Gulf cohort, as at 1 January 1991, to ensure appropriate comparisons. The main impact is slightly to reduce the previously noticed excess of deaths in the Era cohort caused by disease-related conditions, and cancer in particular, increasing the similarity between the two cohorts. The effect on accidental deaths is minimal.
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Table 1: Deaths to UK Gulf Veterans1 1 April 1991–31 December 2004 Causes2 ICD Chapter Causes of death Gulf Era Adjusted3 Era Crude Mortality Rate Ratio Adjusted3Mortality Rate Ratio Adjusted3 95% Confidence Interval Legal intervention and operations of war 4 5 6 0.87 0.74 (0.20–2.66) Sequelae of external causes of morbidity and mortality 0 2 1 0.00 0.00 (0.00–0.00) Deaths where the inquest has been Adjourned 6 8 Other deaths for which cause data are not yet available 5 8 Overseas deaths for which cause data are not available 4 4 Notes
1 Service and Ex-Service personnel only.
2 Causes have been coded to the World Health Organisation's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10), 1992.
3 Adjusted for age of the Gulf cohort at 1 January 1991. The numbers may not add up to the totals shown due to rounding.
4 Includes cases with insufficient information on the death certificate to provide a known cause of death.
5 The MoD's casualty branches have notified DASA that one of the personnel who died in a road traffic accident was riding a motorbike rather than being a car occupant. This change has been reflected in the numbers.
6 Under ICD-10 coding if the death certificate does not specifically mention the type of vehicle that was involved in the accident, the death is coded to "motor-or non-motor vehicle accident, type of vehicle unspecified". There were 36 deaths to Gulf veterans compared to 33 in the Era group.
7 These events include those given a coroner's verdict of suicide or open verdict death by a Coroner in England and Wales and similar causes in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It includes one death which has been coded to the ICD-10 code F11.1 ("Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of opoids") by the ONS. This death has been excluded from the mental and behavioural disorders.
8 ONS have recently informed DASA that deaths where the inquest has been adjourned are coded to Y33 ("Other specified events, undetermined intent"). Historically these have been included with the intentional self-harm and events of undetermined intent.
Table 2: Deaths to UK Gulf veterans due to neoplasms: 1 April 1991–51 December 2004 Major cancer sites and specific sites with at least five deaths in one of the cohorts ICD Cancer site Gulf Era Adjusted Era Crude Mortality Rate Ratio Adjusted1 Mortality Rate Ratio Adjusted1 95% Confidence Interval C00 D48 Neoplasms 138 154 141 0.89 0.97 (0.77–1.22) C00–C99 Malignant Neoplasms (MN) 135 151 140 0.89 0.97 (0.77–1.22) C00–C14 MN of lip, oral cavity and pharynx 6 6 5 0.99 1.04 (0.32–3.41) C15–C26, C48 MN of digestive organs and peritoneum 33 39 34 0.84 0.96 (0.60–1.54) C15 MN of oesophagus 12 5 4 2.39 2.92 (0.98–8.72) C16 MN of stomach 1 6 4 0.17 0.19 (0.02–2.04) C18 MN of colon 4 14 11 0.28 0.35 (0.11–1.07) C25 MN of pancreas 6 8 8 0.75 0.78 (0.27–2.25) C30–C39, C45 MN of respiratory and intrathoracic organs 22 30 26 0.73 0.87 (0.50–1.49) C34 MN of bronchus and lung 19 28 24 0.68 0.80 (0.45–1.42) C40–C44, C47, C49–C50 MN of bone, connective tissue, skin and breast 16 14 14 1.14 1.13 (0.55–2.32) C43 Malignant melanoma of skin 7 5 5 1.39 1.42 (0.46–4.37) C51–C68 MN if genitourinary organs 5 8 7 0.62 0.65 (0.21–2.06) C69–C80 MN of other and unspecified sites 27 35 34 0.77 0.79 (0.48–1.31) C71 MN of brain 18 20 19 0.90 0.93 (0.49–1.77) C80 MN without specification of site 8 12 12 0.66 0.68 (0.28–1.65) C81–C96 MN of lymphatic and haematopoietic tissue 26 19 17 1.36 1.45 (0.79–2.66) C81–C85, C91.4, C96 Lymphomas 13 9 9 1.44 1.50 (0.64–3.53) C82–C85, C91.4, C96 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 9 6 6 1.49 1.60 (0.57–4.51) C91-C95excl C91.4 Leukaemias 11 8 7 1.37 1.38 (0.53–3.59) C92 Myeloid leukaemia 8 5 5 1.59 1.47 (0.48–4.47) D00–D48 In situ neoplasms, benign neoplasms and neoplasms of uncertain behaviour or unspecified nature 3 3 3 0.99 0.89 (0.16–4.93) Notes
1 Adjusted for age of Gulf cohort at 1 January 1991.