Annex 1
Letter to Mrs Edwina Currie MP from the
Chief Executive, War Pensions Agency, 8 February 1995
Thank you for your letter of 26 January 1995
about your concerns on the after effects of service in the Gulf.
You comment that a number of pensions have been
applied for by personnel who served in the Gulf, not for injuries
sustained there, but for other forms of illness. This is entirely
normal, and not at all peculiar to the Gulf. We still receive
large numbers of claims from men and women who served in earlier
conflicts. A large proportion of those claims are in respect of
later developing illnesses, not as the direct consequence of injuries
received at the time of conflict.
In answer to your request for written confirmation
of the figures I can provide the following information:—
(a) to date, the War Pensions Agency has
received 303 claims from those who served in the Gulf, but not
necessarily for conditions associated with their time there. 49
of these have made mention of "Desert Storm Syndrome"
as being a reason for claiming. It is useful to put these numbers
in context; around 45,000 men and women from the UK forces were
involved in service in the Gulf;
(b) 165 claims are still under consideration;
(c) 132 of the claims have been decided in
favour of the claimant. 11 (including one widow's pension) awards
have been made in cases where "Desert Storm Syndrome"
was mentioned, but in each case the award has been made in respect
of a known and identifiable medical condition "Desert Storm
Syndrome" or "Desert Storm fever" is not recognised
as a discrete medical condition, and no awards have been made
in respect of it;
(d) six claims have been rejected, of which
in two cases "syndrome" was the claimed condition.
As you know, the War Pensions Agency considers
claims for disablement from ex-service personnel. Under the War
Pensions Scheme, awards may be made where the disablement or death
of a former member of the Armed Forces is caused by an injury
(or illness) which is either attributable to, or has been aggravated
by, service in the Armed Forces. The Scheme covers any injury
or disease which is attributable to service.
Medical questions in relation to War Pension
claims for disablement or death are decided and certified by medical
officers appointed or recognised by the Secretary of State for
the purpose. The medical officer must first determine the underlying
pathological condition and then consider the aetiology.
Before an award can be made under the War Pensions
scheme it is, therefore, necessary for a connection to be established
between service and disablement or death. Because a condition
develops in service, it does not automatically signify that it
is caused by a factor of that service.
With regard to the Ministry of Defence's investigation,
our understanding is that the preliminary findings of their medical
assessment programme for Gulf Veterans indicate firmly that there
is no evidence of a Syndrome among those so far examined, and
that the medical conditions found are those which medically and
statistically one would expect to find among a group of the size
that went to the Gulf.
I regret that, due to the low numbers handled
by the Agency to date, we are unable to come to any other positive
conclusions. However, we will continue to monitor these claims,
and statistics will be available to update the information we
have given you today.
I hope that you find the above helpful, but
if you require anything further, please do not hesitate to get
in touch.
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