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Reuters: Iraq,WHO agree method for DU probe
Gary Greenberg wrote:
> Iraq, WHO agree method for depleted uranium probe
> http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/12246/story.htm
>
> IRAQ: September 3, 2001
>
> BAGHDAD - A team from the World Health Organisation concluded last
> week initial talks with Iraq on the methodology to research a possible
> link between cancer and depleted uranium weapons used by Western
> forces in the Gulf War.
>
> The Iraqi News Agency said Iraqi officials agreed to allow the WHO
> team to conduct field research and have access to the mainly southern
> areas that were bombarded using depleted uranium shells in the 1991
> war.
>
> The team, whose mission is expected to last two years, will also
> launch a comprehensive study to assess the state of public health in
> Iraq since the war, which together with U.N. sanctions drove Iraq's
> economy, education and public health system to collapse.
>
> Baghdad says depleted uranium, which is used to harden shells so they
> can pierce heavy armour, is behind a growing environmental disaster
> and a sharp rise in cancer cases and birth defects.
>
> Official newspaper al-Thawra last week quoted studies saying that the
> US-led coalition used 944,000 depleted uranium shells on Iraq during
> the Gulf War.
>
> Fears about the health risks to troops using depleted uranium weapons
> arose after six Italian soldiers died of leukaemia following exposure
> to weapons while serving in the former Yugoslavia.
>
> Other European nations including France, Spain and Belgium have also
> reported an increase in cancer cases among soldiers exposed to
> depleted uranium, but NATO says there is no scientific evidence to
> link the illnesses to the controversial weapons.
>
> REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
>
> --
> Gary N. Greenberg, MD MPH Sysop / Moderator Occ-Env-Med-L MailList
> gary.greenberg@duke.edu Duke Occupat, Environ, Int & Fam Medicine
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