Gulf health research

This update has described how Gulf health research has developed over the past two years. In January 1996, MoD asked the MRC for their assistance in commissioning a programme of research to investigate Gulf veterans' health concerns. The MRC issued a 'Call for Proposals' in May 1996. All proposals were peer-reviewed and detailed applications were invited from a short-list of nine. In October 1996 the MRC recommended to MoD that two epidemiological studies should be funded; one to be carried out by Professor Cherry from Manchester University and the other by Dr Doyle of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The MRC also recommended that these researchers should collaborate with Professor Wessely of King's College, London who had already been funded by the Americans to conduct an epidemiological study on British Gulf veterans. In making their recommendations, the MRC advised that the researchers should assess the feasibility of tracing ex-service personnel and the availability of exposure data. Both these areas are giving cause for concern. The researchers are working with MoD staff to improve the quality of available address data. The main challenge facing MoD now is to ensure that the input data provided to researchers is of a high enough standard to enable them to achieve acceptable response rates. Since commissioning the epidemiological studies, there have been two further initiatives. In May 1997, the Government announced that MoD would commission research to investigate potential adverse effects to the combination of medical counter-measures administered to British personnel during Operation GRANBY. Preliminary work on this programme has started. In March 1998, the Government announced that Professor Wessely's team would be funded to carry out a thorough neurophysiological assessment of unwell veterans and controls identified during his epidemiological study.