The latest UK Gulf Veterans Mortality Data, produced by Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA), Ministry of Defence, was released on the 29th March 2012 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
This Statistical Notice provides summary statistics on the causes of deaths that occurred among the UK veterans of the 1990/91 Gulf Conflict. The mortality rates of 53,409 UK Gulf veterans were analysed alongside those of a comparison group, the Era cohort. The Era comparison group consists of 53,143 UK Armed Forces personnel of similar age, gender, Service, regular/reservist status and rank who were in Service on 1 January 1991 but did not deploy to the Gulf.
The key findings in the latest release (1 April 1991 - 31 December 2011) are:
- There have been 1,283 dethas among the Gulf veterans and 1,327 in the age-adjusted Era comparison group.
- The 1,283 deaths among Gulf veterans compare with approximately 2,191 deaths which would have been expected in a similar sized cohort taken from the general population of the UK with the same age and gender profile. This reflects the strong emphasis on fitness when recruiting and retaining Service personnel.
These statistics continue to confirm that UK veterans of the 1990/1991 Gulf Conflict do not suffer an excess of overall mortality compared with Service personnel that did not deploy.
Further details are available by visiting the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk