APPENDIX 25
Memorandum from the Ministry of Defence
concerning help for volunteers who participated in trials at Porton
Down (21 November 2000)
I am writing to inform you that today I will
be announcing that the Ministry of Defence will be taking a number
of steps designed to help those who participated as volunteers
in trials at Porton Down.
Suggestions have been made that some Porton
Down Volunteers suffer unusual patterns of ill health because
of their participation in trials. Although the Ministry of Defence
has seen no scientific evidence to support that belief, we take
such suggestions seriously. We are very grateful to all those
whose participation in studies at Porton Down made possible the
research to provide safe and effective protection for UK Armed
Forces against chemical and biological weapons. Against this background,
I believe we can do more to address former volunteers' concerns
about their health. The steps I have announced are as follows.
We are:
— offering volunteers the opportunity
for a thorough medical assessment if they have concerns about
their health. This will be along the lines of the Gulf Veterans
Medical Assessment Programme and will use the same facilities
at St Thomas' Hospital, London. The data from these consultations
will be analysed to explore whether patterns of ill health are
associated with particular exposures;
— seeking advice on an independent
epidemiological study. We have approached the Medical Research
Council already. Such a study may help establish whether or not
former volunteers are suffering from excess mortality as compared
to a matched group of service personnel who did not participate
in trials at Porton Down;
— creating a multi-disciplinary policy
focus within the Ministry of Defence which will be responsible
for addressing volunteers' health concerns and liaising with other
Government departments;
— approaching this issue with openness
and a commitment to dialogue with Volunteers and their Representatives;
— making public any information which
may be of assistance to former volunteers. The current arrangments
for the Porton helpline will remain in being. All volunteers who
approach it will be given full information by letter of their
own trials, and offered the opportunity to examine the records
for themselves at the site;
— continuing to fully co-operate with
and provide assistance to the ongoing Wiltshire Police enquiry
into trials at Porton Down.
The policy focus for Porton Down volunteers
issues will be provided by the Ministry of Defence's Gulf Veterans'
Illnesses Unit (GVIU) because its existing administrative, medical
and statistical expertise is ideally suited to addressing similar
questions in the case of Porton Down volunteers. The GVIU will
be properly resourced to take on this important new responsibility
and there will be no detriment to the ongoing Ministry of Defence
commitment to assist Gulf vererans.
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