HL Deb 03 November 2003 vol 654 cc74-5WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 9 October (WA 67), whether there are any plans to call on veterans, both serving and retired, to provide such medical records as may remain in their possession so as to assist research into the causes of Gulf War illnesses which remain medically unexplained. [HL5095]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)

The Government remain committed to funding appropriate research into Gulf veterans' illnesses and factors which might have a bearing on these. Where appropriate to do so, some researchers have already taken account of existing medical records where consent has been provided by veterans. The Government's Gulf veterans' illnesses research programme is guided by expert advice from the independent Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC has conducted a review of all UK Gulf veterans' illnesses research, and published a report in May 2003 which is available on the Internet at:http://www.mrc.ac.uk/index/publications/ publications-research_reviews/public-gulf_veterans_ research.htm. The MRC made a number of recommendations for more research, but did not recommend further research using medical records in the possession of Gulf veterans. The MRC's view was that research aimed at improving the long-term health of Gulf veterans who still have symptoms should take priority.

Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 9 October (WA 67), whether the decision to make anthrax vaccinations optional in the deployment in Iraq this year was taken in consequence of defects in the procedures used in 1990–91 deployment. [HL5097]

Lord Bach

No. Immunisation against anthrax for United Kingdom Armed Forces was voluntary during the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and remains voluntary, in keeping with longstanding medical practice.

The MoD's intention in 1990–91 that immunisation against anthrax was voluntary has been documented in the MoD paper Implementation of the Immunisation Programme against Biological Warfare Agents for UK Forces during the Gulf Conflict 1990–1991, dated 20 January 2000. This paper is available in the Library of the House and on the Internet at: http://www.mod.uk/ issues/gulfwar/info/medical/bwa/chl.htm. As this paper explains, when instructions from MoD headquarters were cascaded down the command chain, in some cases the voluntary nature of the immunisation programme was not adequately communicated, which may have led to a perception that such vaccines were mandatory.

Since 1991, training and briefing procedures have been improved to ensure that the voluntary nature of immunisation against anthrax is fully understood by all personnel offering or receiving the immunisation.