- The Government should "publicly acknowledge"
that 6,000 British veterans are suffering from Gulf war syndrome and set
up a fund to compensate them, an independent inquiry concluded yesterday.
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- The inquiry, chaired by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, a former
law lord, said it was "beyond reasonable doubt" that Gulf war
veterans were likely to develop illnesses over and above those they might
expect if they had not gone to war.
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- The Government had originally indicated that it would
accept that the illnesses affecting the veterans resulted from service
in the Gulf if proper medical studies showed there to be an increased risk
among Gulf veterans, the inquiry said.
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- There had now been three authoritative UK studies into
Gulf war syndrome, two funded by the MoD and one by the US government,
all of which concluded that troops who went to war were twice as likely
to become ill as those who did not.
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- "The Government ought now, in fairness, and not
before time, to accept that the illnesses were caused by their deployment,"
the inquiry said.
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- Announcing the conclusions, Lord Lloyd was scathing about
the MoD's refusal to take part, saying it had "lost a valuable opportunity
to start the process of reconciliation with the ill veterans" that
would have cost it nothing.
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- The inquiry concluded that "the jury is still out"
as to the causes of Gulf war syndrome and there was an urgent need for
further research. It examined all the possible causes that have been mentioned
and ruled out all but four.
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- These were possible exposure to nerve gas, the widespread
use of organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, the use of multiple vaccines,
and the use of Naps (nerve agent pre-treatment set) tablets to protect
troops against nerve agents.
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- The inquiry expressed particular concern over the use
of the whooping cough vaccine to speed up the effect of the anthrax vaccine.
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- The inquiry came close to suggesting a cover-up, noting
that the MoD had denied knowledge of a Department of Health fax warning
of serious side-effects, sent before the anthrax vaccine was administered
to the bulk of the troops.
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- "It is not known what, if any, action was taken
by the MoD on receiving this fax," the inquiry said. "The MoD
only admitted the existence of the fax in 1997, after it had been lost
for many years. It was said not to be known who had sent it or who had
received it."
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- The inquiry said it had a copy of the fax and it was
"clear" that it had come from the Department of Health's deputy
chief medical officer.
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- It also expressed concern at evidence that the Naps tablets
might have inhibited the body's ability to deal with the effects of the
vaccines or otherwise harmless levels of organophosphates, suggesting a
combination of all three might be to blame.
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- The inquiry dismissed the MoD's insistence that the illnesses
suffered by the veterans could not be described as Gulf war syndrome. The
MoD has repeatedly claimed that a syndrome has to have a single cause and
that since there is no known single cause for the symptoms exhibited by
Gulf veterans there can be no Gulf war syndrome.
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- But the inquiry, which included Dr Norman Jones, a former
consultant physician at St Thomas's Hospital, London, quoted from the Oxford
Medical Companion to reject this argument.
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- The MoD should now accept the term Gulf war syndrome
as "the most convenient label" for the symptoms "the veterans
are undoubtedly suffering", the inquiry said. "We can see no
good reason why they should not accept Gulf war syndrome. It will not expose
them to any new claims. It will make no practical difference.
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- "But it will make a great difference to the veterans
and their families. It would, without loss to itself, go a long way to
restore the trust and confidence of the veterans."
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- The Royal British Legion and Gulf war veterans' organisations
welcomed the inquiry's report.
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- Tony Flint, of the National Gulf Veterans and Families
Association, said it was time for the MoD to accept the inquiry's conclusions
and recommendations and compensate the veterans.
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- "To have Gulf war syndrome recognised means a hell
of a lot to us," he said. "We've said all along that it exists
ñ now we have an eminent body saying it as well."
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- Lord Morris of Manchester, at whose instigation the inquiry
was set up, welcomed its "fair and balanced" report. "I
profoundly hope there will be no delay now in giving full effect to Lord
Lloyd's findings," he said. "Those left in broken health and
bereaved have already suffered more than enough."
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