HC Deb 16 October 1996 vol 282 cc921-3W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now make it his policy to investigate media allegations of cases of the Gulf war syndrome if invited to do so in parliamentary questions from hon. Members. [40734]

Mr. Soames

Our first duty, and prime concern, is to the health of those veterans who served in the Gulf, and we will of course explore any information made available which may have affected the health of those veterans. The proper means for the medical examination of Gulf veterans who are concerned about their health is the medical assessment programme which we established in 1993. I urge any veteran who has such concerns and has not yet been seen by the MAP to come forward as soon as possible.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what new assessment his Department has made of the possible effects of fluorine on Gulf war military and medical veterans since the reply of 24 October 1994,Official Report, column 500. [40750]

Mr. Soames

No assessment has been made of the possible effects of fluorine on Gulf war veterans. No evidence of the effects of fluorine has been found among any of the UK Gulf war veterans examined under my Department's medical assessment programme.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the memorandum on the discovery of mustard gas during the Gulf war by the commander of the 54 Chemical Troop, dated 4 January 1994, has now been discovered and assessed. [40751]

Mr. Soames

I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information on the environmental effects of organophosphates his Department has received from the United States Government in regard to the joint research being conducted on the implications of organophosphate use in Operation Granby in the Gulf war. [40736]

Mr. Soames

My Department is liaising closely with the United States Government on all aspects of research into the health of Gulf war veterans. It has received information on the United States Government's assessment of the health effects on US forces of organophosphate use during the Gulf war, and on associated work being conducted as part of their research programme into Gulf war illnesses. No joint US-UK research is being conducted into organophosphate use during the Gulf war.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what quality control was conducted on the organophosphate pesticides purchased by his Department to combat fly-borne diseases in the Gulf war; and what post-war assessment has been made on the effect on the local environment in Kuwait and southern Iraq of the use of pesticides during Operation Granby. [40738]

Mr. Soames

The organophosphate pesticides, malathion and fenitrothion, were approved for use at the time of Operation Granby under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986. ALFACRON, containing the organophosphate azamathiphos, and purchased locally in the Gulf, was also approved for use under these regulations. SNIP, a similar product purchased locally containing azamathiphos, was licensed for use in the United States, but it is understood that no application has been made for approval in the UK. A further organophosphate pesticide purchased locally, neocidal, is understood to have been supplied in error in response to an order for a non-organophosphate pesticide.

My Department is not aware of any post-war assessment of the effect of the use of pesticides on the local environment in Kuwait and southern Iraq during Operation Granby.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Gulf war veteran service people and medical support staff have been found to suffer from brainstem encephalitis; and what assessment has been made of the relationship between incidences of brainstem encephalitis in Gulf war veterans and the environment of the Gulf war. [40746]

Mr. Soames

[holding answer 15 October 1996]: There have been no reported cases of Gulf war veterans suffering from brainstem encephahlitis. No assessment has therefore been made of a possible link between brainstem encephalitis and the environment of the Gulf.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical studies have been conducted by his Department on the effects on human health and the environment of the organophosphate pesticides malathion, diazinon, azamathiphos and dimethyl phosphorothionate prior to their use in Operation Granby in the Gulf war. [40745]

Mr. Soames

[holding answer 15 October 1996]: No medical studies on the organophosphate pesticides malathion, diazinon, azamathiphos and dimethyl phosphorothionate were conducted by my Department prior to the Gulf war.