7.30 Report - Gulf War Syndrome/Australia

[Guest guest]

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/s197371.htm

Transcript

9/Oct/00

Study seeks answers to Gulf War syndrome

MAXINE McKEW: In the 10 years since the Gulf War, 15 per cent of the

Australian force deployed in that operation have lodged sickness

claims.

They're complaining of both psychological and physical ailments they

say were caused by their service time in the Gulf.

Many are suffering from a cluster of undiagnosed conditions, similar

to those experienced by veterans from the US and the UK, which have

become known as Gulf War syndrome.

Now researchers have begun extensive medical examinations of

Australian veterans in a landmark study to try to find out what's

making them sick.

Natasha has the story.

ED GRANT, GULF WAR VETERAN: I am definitely sure that this has

shortened my lifespan.

I am concerned about what I may be passing on and may have passed on,

genetically, to my children.

GRAHAM BERTOLINI, GULF WAR VETERAN: We haven't even considered

starting a family as yet because of the fact of the unknown.

You know, I'm always sick and then it's starting to worry me, what's

wrong with me. I want to know what's wrong with me first.

DAVID WATTS, GULF WAR VETERANS ASSOC: It may have been easy if we'd

been shot and had physical wounds to show for it.

What people have got now is no less of a disease or illness than a

wound such as that.

NATASHA JOHNSON: They went to war sailing high on a wave of national

pride, but many believe their tour of duty has cost them dearly.

In the decade since the Gulf War, 350 of the 1,865 Australian navy,

army and air force personnel deployed have filed sickness claims.

ASSOC. PROFESSOR MALCOLM SIMILAR, MONASH UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER: Well,

there are certainly some people who have developed cancer, there are

people who have developed motor neurone disease.

There are people who have had suicides. Three suicides within, that

we

know of at the moment.

And there's also a group of people that have got fairly

non-specific-type health problems that don't fit naturally into the

usual kind of medical diagnoses that we know about.

This is, of course, of great interest to know if there is something

unique to the Gulf or whether it's just the ordinary medical

conditions in another guise.

GRAHAM BERTOLINI, GULF WAR VETERAN: During the initial stages,

virtually straightaway, I started developing signs of what was like

flu-like symptoms.

Forever having -- well, they kept on telling me it was just viral

infections after viral infection -- It was just constant.

I just never seemed to get over it.

NATASHA JOHNSON: 31-year-old Graham Bertolini served on HMAS

'Brisbane'.

Within months of returning from the Gulf, he began to get sick, then

the symptoms snowballed.

GRAHAM BERTOLINI: I started having a lot of problems with my joints

and muscles.

Always just feeling very tired.

I started having a lot of problems with my chest, chest problems and

bowel problems and digestive system problems.

Just constantly feeling ill, bleeding gums for unknown reasons.

NATASHA JOHNSON: By 1994, he was so ill he had to give up work and is

now on a totally and permanently incapacitated pension.

46-year-old Ed Grant is also on a pension.

The army medical assistant was deployed to northern Iraq with a

humanitarian operation to help Kurdish refugees.

ED GRANT: Prior to to my deployment to the Gulf, I was a very fit and

healthy person.

NATASHA JOHNSON: As well as suffering from post-traumatic stress

disorder, he too has a variety of physical complaints that have left

him chronically ill.

ED GRANT: In the last 10 years, it's a decade since the deployment

there, my health has deteriorated to the point where X-rays and

examinations of my physical person show a person who is much older

than I actually am, chronologically -- bone structure, muscle tissue,

and it goes on.

NATASHA JOHNSON: After pressure from veterans groups, the Federal

Government has commissioned Monash University researchers to examine

the health of Gulf War veterans and compare it to a controlled group

who were in the forces at the same time, but didn't go to the Gulf.

The Australian study is the latest in a wealth of research being

conducted by coalition countries whose veterans are sick.

But what remains unresolved is whether the cluster of ailments they

suffer are a specific Gulf War syndrome.

DR CRAIG HYAMS, US NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTRE: We've evaluated now

a systematic way over 10,000 Gulf War veterans in the United States,

Canada and the United Kingdom.

What we've found in this systematic dissemination of a large number

of

our Gulf War veterans is we found a wide diversity of different types

of health problems.

Lots of different types of illnesses.

The Gulf War veterans are definitely sick with a number of different

problems, but we haven't found a unique or new syndrome.

We have not found a Gulf War syndrome.

NATASHA JOHNSON: The suspected causes include exposure to fallout

from

destroyed chemical or biological weapons, uranium waste from anti-tank

shells or the toxic fumes of oil-well fires.

The Australian veterans are particularly concerned about the

anti-nerve gas tablets they took and the cocktail of vaccinations

they

received -- many of which they claim haven't been recorded in their

health records.

DAVID WATTS: Basically, we were all given a log book of all our

vaccinations and injections.

For most people, it states about 6 or 7 needles for that entire

period

and we all know we got more than that.

We probably got at least double that, both in Australia, on the way

over there and when we got in there.

We just think we're being lied to and the more they deny it, the more

we think " Who's covering this up, what are they covering up? "

BRUCE SCOTT, VETERANS AFFAIRS MINISTER: There's absolutely no

cover-up

there.

Can just I say, once again, I want to reiterate and make the point

that it is important that veterans who served in the Gulf War

participate in this health study.

Any of those claims that they have that they feel they have not been

properly heard can be aired through this process and we can monitor

their health to make sure that they're not suffering as a result of

their service in the Gulf War.

NATASHA JOHNSON: The Department of Veterans' Affairs admits there is

some disparity in the records.

Researchers hope to clarify just what the Australians received and

particularly whether it included the controversial anthrax vaccine.

BRUCE SCOTT: No Australian veteran who was prepared by the Australian

Defence Force were given an anthrax injection.

Australians who may have been part of a third country deployment, who

were on exchange to other countries, may have received an anthrax

injection and that's why it is important we ask all those who

participated in the Gulf War to participate in this health study.

NATASHA JOHNSON: Were Australian troops vaccinated against anthrax?

ASSOC. PROFESSOR MALCOLM SIM: It seems like some were.

Certainly, with Australians deployed with overseas forces, the

overseas forces, many of those were given anthrax, so they would have

had that as part of their work up to go to the Gulf.

It's a little uncertain at this stage what the extent of it was in

the

Australian groups that went.

That's one of the things we'll be trying to get a little bit more

clarification on about the use of anthrax as an immunisation in the

Gulf.

NATASHA JOHNSON: Many of the sick Gulf War veterans are receiving

pensions and medical assistance, but it's hoped the health study will

help settle the outstanding claims and resolve some of the mystery of

their illnesses.

GRAHAM BERTOLINI: We'd like some answers as to what is wrong with us,

can they do anything for us, or, you know, just the truth --

that's

all we ask.

MAXINE McKEW: And the United States Government says it's unable to

confirm whether or not Australian soldiers deployed to the US-led

force in the Persian Gulf were among the 150,000 service members who

were given anthrax vaccines.

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