WHO: Need $2M for DU !? :-(

[Muckerheide <muckerheide@mediaone.net>]

... And no medical case link!? :-)

$10s Millions in research over last 30 years isn't enough??
("Unacceptable"?)

Regards, Jim
muckerheide@mediaone.net
==========================

    UN health agency seeks $2 million to fund work on depleted uranium
1 February ­ The World Health Organization (WHO) today appealed for close to
$2 million to examine the possible health effects of depleted uranium, which
was used during conflicts in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans.

The agency plans to use the money to conduct field surveys and support data
collection from local health facilities. The funds will also help WHO
provide technical support and equipment to strengthen efforts by countries
to keep records on cancers and other non-communicable diseases. In addition,
WHO will use the resources to deploy toxicologists, radiation and chemical
experts -- together with equipment, supplies and easier access to
international reference centres -- in support of national efforts to
diagnose and treat non-communicable diseases.

This initial appeal will eventually form part of an estimated $20 million
which WHO will seek to cover its work on depleted uranium for the next four
years. That money would allow the agency to undertake in-depth
epidemiological and toxicological studies into the possible health and
environmental effects of the substance.

Experts generally think that there is low risk from exposure to depleted
uranium -- which is used in certain ammunition and missiles -- but caution
that there is not enough information to be certain.

"Evidence on the incidence of cancers needs to be strengthened in
communities within Iraq and the Balkans in order to draw any epidemiological
conclusions," said Dr. Xavier Leus, Director for WHO's Emergency and
Humanitarian Action Department. "There is also very little information on
other possible risk factors for civilians and the military that may be
equally important," he pointed out.

Dr. Leus said that evidence must be collected on the numbers of people
exposed, amounts of depleted uranium involved and the concentration and
distribution of environmental pollutants. He said the current state of
uncertainty about the health effects of depleted uranium was "unacceptable."

WHO is requesting $1.98 million from humanitarian donors to cover activities
for the next six months.

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No firm link between depleted uranium and medical cases in Kosovo:

WHO team 1 February ­ Following an extensive review, experts from the World
Health Organization (WHO) have found no firm evidence linking individual
medical cases in Kosovo to the use of depleted uranium munitions during the
1999 Balkans conflict.

According to the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK), which requested the review, the WHO team concluded that scientific
and medical studies have not proven a link between exposure to depleted
uranium and the onset of cancers, congenital abnormalities or serious toxic
chemical effects on organs.

At the same time, the WHO experts noted that caution had been expressed by
scientists who would like to see a larger body of non-military, independent
studies to confirm this viewpoint.

Soldiers were most likely to have inhaled uranium metal and oxides in dusts
and smoke, according to the WHO team, while the general population, except
possibly in isolated incidents, would probably not have been exposed in this
manner.

Pointing out that civilians could most likely come into contact with the
substance by picking up objects on the ground, the WHO team concluded that
routine measures to remove depleted uranium objects from the ground surface
would be beneficial. But the experts did not recommend the creation of an
immediate, separate cleanup programme at depleted uranium sites.

According to UNMIK, the team emphasized that "depleted uranium issues are
small in comparison" to the deaths and injuries caused by the presence of
high levels of lead in people in Mitrovica as well as the "alarmingly high"
rate of traffic deaths.

The four-member WHO expert team reached its conclusions following meetings
with concerned officials and visits to sites hit by depleted uranium-tipped
shells. WHO's findings, which will be published next week, were presented to
UNMIK in draft form on Tuesday.

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