HC Deb 15 February 1995 vol 254 cc725-6W
Mrs. Currie

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if any of the volunteers who underwent tests for(a) inoculations and (b) nerve agent pre-treatment sets at Porton Down in preparation for the Gulf war were women.

Mr. Soames

This is a matter for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, CBDE to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Graham Pearson to Mrs. Edwina Currie dated 15 February 1995:

1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking if any of the volunteers who underwent tests for (a) inoculations and (b) nerve agent pre treatment sets at Porton Down in preparation for the Gulf War were women has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.

2. The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is to carry out work to ensure that the UK Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical and biological weapons may be used against them. As part of this the potential hazard of possible chemical and biological warfare is assessed and the effectiveness of medical countermeasures evaluated.

3. No Service volunteers participated in studies on inoculations and nerve agent pre-treatment sets (NAPS) in preparation for the Gulf War. However, a number of studies into NAPS using Service volunteers were carried out primarily between 1970 and the early 1980s at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, RMCS Shrivenham, Dover, Bulford, Cambridge Military Hospital as well as some collaborative work with the Institution of Aviation Medicine and more recently in 1993 at the Cambridge Military Hospital. These studies were to evaluate the acceptability of using pyridostigmine bromide and whether such use had adverse side effects or was affected by the nature of the duties of the Service personnel. These studies which lasted for up to eight weeks included the assessment of the effects of NAPS on volunteers undergoing strenuous exercise and of a thermally stressful environment. Our records indicate that a total of about 11 female Service volunteers received NAPS during these studies.

4. Insofar as vaccines are concerned, over many years the staff at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment and previously at the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down engaged in work involving potential biological warfare agents have been vaccinated to protect them against the microorganisms they are working with in the laboratory. Over the past five years this has involved the vaccination about 150 female personnel.

Mrs. Currie

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the conditions and illnesses which have so far been diagnosed among those British veterans claiming to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome.

Mr. Soames

Initial findings from my Department's Gulf war medical assessment programme show that those diagnosed so far are suffering from medical conditions which can be categorised as follows: approximately 25 per cent. are suffering from psychological conditions; 20 per cent. from serious, but well-recognised, medical conditions; 10 per cent. from chronic fatigue syndrome and the remainder from minor physical ailments. None of the conditions has been found to be peculiar to service in the Gulf. There is no single illness, major or minor, common to those examined and no evidence to suggest the existence of a Gulf war syndrome. More detailed preliminary findings will be made public shortly, when 100 individuals have been fully assessed and diagnosed.

Mrs. Currie

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service men and women claiming to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome have registered a claim for compensation; how many have presented themselves to his Department's medical officers for examination; and how many have been assessed to date.

Mr. Soames

To date, my Department has received notification of 483 potential claims in respect of alleged ill health as a result of service in the Gulf. Approximately one third of these are from serving armed forces personnel and the remainder from former personnel. Some 39 of these potential claims have subsequently been withdrawn.

So far, 233 personnel have requested medical assessment through the Gulf war assessment programme, of whom about 25 per cent. are serving. Some 90 of these have been examined to date.