Gulf War Syndrome (Hansard, 21 February 1995)

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of alleged Gulf war syndrome.

§ Mr. Soames
It is my Department's policy to investigate the allegations of a Gulf war syndrome in a scientific and objective manner to establish the full facts. We are concerned to ensure that those who are ill receive proper assessment and diagnosis, and where necessary are referred for treatment to those responsible for their health care. As part of these investigations, we have established a medical assessment programme to build up a soundly based data bank of information resulting from individual clinical examination of those Gulf veterans who are coming forward with concerns about their health in response to repeated ministerial requests. We are also following scientific developments in the United States and elsewhere examining the plausibility of the many postulated causes of the alleged syndrome and making comparisons of the health problems experienced by Gulf veterans against the normal incidence of such symptoms among the rest of the armed forces and the general United Kingdom population. Our investigations to date have found no medical or scientific evidence of a Gulf war syndrome, or of any medical condition peculiar to service in the Gulf.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving service personnel have reported sick claiming to have Gulf war syndrome.

§ Mr. Soames
To date, a total of 51 serving personnel have come forward, or have been referred, into my Department's medical assessment programme with concerns about their health as a result of Gulf war service. Of the 24 who have so far been examined and diagnosed, none has been found to have a medical condition peculiar to Gulf service.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel from the other allied100W nations who took part in the Gulf claim to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome.

§ Mr. Soames
The latest figures available to my Department indicate that approximately 13,000 United States Gulf war veterans have registered with the clinical evaluation programme established by the United States authorities to examine those alleging ill health as a result of Gulf war service. Among other allies, the claims of some 30 to 40 Canadians and 20 Norwegian Gulf personnel to be suffering from the alleged Gulf war syndrome are being investigated by their national authorities.

§ Mr. Alfred Morris
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-military supporting staff are claiming to be suffering from Gulf war syndrome.

§ Mr. Soames
To date, my Department has received notification of 483 potential claims in respect of ill health as a result of service in the Gulf war. The information available shows that 12 are from individuals who were civilians at the time, seven of whom can be identified as non-military supporting staff paid by the MOD.