§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following the death on 23 January of ex-Petty Officer Nigel Thompson, a Gulf War veteran who died of motor neurone disease, and the recent finding that Gulf War veterans in the United States are twice as likely as members of the general population to have the disease, Nigel Thompson's claim for recognition of his illness as war-related is now being reconsidered. [HL2690]
§ Lord BachMr Thompson was a man of immense courage, humanity and great cheerfulness in the face of considerable adversity. Our thoughts are with his widow, family and friends. The Government are aware of the recent US government announcement regarding the prevalence of motor neurone disease in US veterans of the Gulf conflict which followed preliminary evidence from a comparative study. The researcher's findings have yet to be published in peer-reviewed scientific literature: when they are, we will consider carefully their implications for UK Gulf veterans.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Following the publication of the Gulf veterans' mortality figures as at 31 December 2001, whether the composition of the two groups compared matched in terms of age, service and gender; and why the number who have died due to external injury or poisoning, including suicides, and all aspects of travel, is much higher among Gulf War veterans than the control group. [HL2827]
§ Lord BachThe two groups comprise 53,409 Gulf veterans and 53,143 Era personnel. Both groups are slightly smaller than those identified by researchers at the University of Manchester for their work on Gulf veterans' mortality published in theLancet on 1 July 2000 (Volume 356, No. 9223, pages 17–21). This is because subsequent analysis revealed that some of those who were included in the University of Manchester study (Gulf 53,416, Era 53,450) were not eligible for the study. According to the Ministry of 178WA Defence data, as at 31 December 2001, the number of Gulf veterans who had died due to external causes of injury and poisoning was 316 compared to 270 in the Era group. Of these, 97 Gulf veteran and 90 Era deaths were due to suicide and injury, undetermined whether or not accidental. The MoD is exploring the possible cause of the excess in respect of transport and vehicle accident deaths among the Gulf group and will make the results known when available.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many British sevicemen and women. deployed to the Gulf in 1990–91, were inoculated against anthrax; and whether any of these servicemen and women were exposed during their Gulf service to anthrax or other biological weapons. [HL2828]
§ Lord BachThe Ministry of Defence has identified 53,462 UK service personnel who deployed to a state in the Gulf region at some time between I September 1990 and 30 June 1991. The precise number who received an anthrax immunisation is not known but it is estimated that over 75 per cent of all UK service personnel deployed to the Gulf at that time are likely to have had one anthrax immunisation and in many units this approached 100 per cent. Uptake of the second anthrax immunisation was less and varied between and within formations. Uptake of the third anthrax immunisation was rare. Our assessment is that none of the UK service personnel deployed was subject to attack by, or exposed to, biological warfare agents, including anthrax, during the Gulf Conflict.