Iraq-Kuwait Conflict: Health Services

(asked on 7th November 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to take steps to invest in research into Gulf conflict related illnesses in order to support veterans with such illnesses.


Answered by
Andrew Murrison Portrait
Andrew Murrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This question was answered on 15th November 2023

As a nation, we owe a great debt to our Armed Forces community, including some 53,400 UK Service personnel who were deployed to the 1990/91 Gulf War, and it is right that they are held in the highest esteem by the Government and people of the UK.

It has long been accepted by the UK Government that some veterans are ill and that some of this ill-health is related to their Gulf service. The most impactful way to support Gulf War veterans with adverse health conditions is for them to present to their GP to seek appropriate treatment for their symptoms, including referral to specialist services if appropriate. In the UK, when individuals leave the Armed Forces, it is the NHS in England and the Devolved Administrations that become responsible for the provision of healthcare.

There is also financial support available to veterans whose illness is due to service. For individuals that served during the 1990/1991 Gulf War, claims can be considered under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) which provides compensation for illness or injury caused as a result of service in the Armed Forces before 6 April 2005. Each case for compensation is considered on its own merits.

The MOD has sponsored significant research into the possible health effects of the conflict on veterans. Contemporary medical and scientific understanding from the mid-1990s onwards has identified no distinct disease process or pathology underlying Gulf symptoms and illness.

In line with the Medical Research Council (MRC) review of 2003, which recommended no further research on possible causation of Gulf illness, the MOD has no plans to institute further research into Gulf War related illnesses nor to hold an inquiry. The UK Government's strategy on research topics and studies into the health of Gulf War veterans has been informed and overseen by independent scientific experts nominated by MRC, taking account of published peer-reviewed international literature and international studies.

In September 2023, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs convened a group of clinicians, leading academics, and veterans’ experts to interrogate the evidence around Gulf War illnesses and to explore options for further work. The group will meet annually to ensure that new evidence continues to be considered in the future.

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