Oral answer to question provided on Tuesday, 9 December 2008 in the House of Lords, by Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour).

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Gulf War Illnesses

Answer

My Lords, I can respond to two of those points. We believe that approximately £9 million of funding has been spent in the UK. Up to $300 million has been spent in the US. However, the very report in which the noble Lord was involved casts considerable doubt on that. We share the view of the Department of Veterans Affairs that the report’s findings must be carefully reviewed and peer-reviewed. The Department of Veterans Affairs press release states: "““Because VA has traditionally and by law relied upon IOM for independent and credible reviews of the science behind these particular veterans’ health issues, Secretary of Veterans Affairs … has asked IOM to review the advisory committee’s report before VA officially responds to the report’s conclusions””." The Ministry of Defence intends to consider this long report very carefully before responding in detail to it.