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WHO to Probe for Depleted Uranium in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A World Health Organization (WHO) mission left Iraq Friday after agreeing to a probe of possible links between cancer and depleted uranium (DU), dropped by U.S.-led forces during the 1991 Gulf War, the official Iraqi news agency (INA) reported.
The undersecretary of state at the health ministry, Zuheir Said Abdul Salem, said Iraq and WHO officials agreed that experts would analyze soil samples taken from mutually agreed areas to determine if there are any traces of uranium.
The Iraqi team will begin work immediately, while WHO experts will begin tests within two weeks.
The WHO delegation, led by Abdelaziz Saleh, deputy head of WHO's regional office in Cairo, arrived in Iraq on Monday.
According to Iraq, the number of cancer cases has quadrupled in the south of the country where the bombing was heaviest, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
INA said earlier this week that both sides had underlined "the need to carry out research into the use of depleted uranium during the war, its effects on the environment and health in Iraq."
The United States and Great Britain fired more than 940,000 armor-piercing DU projectiles during the 1991 conflict, says Baghdad, who requested the WHO study.
The U.N. body announced in April that a delegation from Iraq and WHO experts had drawn up a framework for future collaboration and action.
The framework covers three areas; surveillance of diseases, especially cancers and congenital malformations, as well as DU measurements in affected people, plus prevention and research.
WHO studied radiation levels caused by the use of DU weapons in the Balkans and concluded the impact on health was infinitesimal.
Meanwhile, news agencies reported Friday that up to 9,000 British veterans believe they are suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, according to a survey of soldiers who served in the 1991 war against Iraq.
The number is extrapolated from a sample survey of nearly 3,000 veterans, which found that 17% complained of symptoms associated with the syndrome such as psychological distress, fatigue, headaches, joint pain and poor concentration, the Iranian state-run news agency IRNA reported.
Although exact causes of the syndrome are unknown, those who received a cocktail of vaccinations against biological warfare before being deployed were said to be much more likely to be suffering from symptoms.
The findings of the survey, carried out by two London hospitals funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, were published in the British Medical Journal Friday.
"Given that the forces represent a group of people chosen because of their good health and fitness, this is alarming," the researchers concluded.
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