WILL troops sent to Iraq this year be at risk of contracting the same mysterious illnesses that plague veterans of the first Gulf war? Barb Goodno of the US Department of Defense has said that centralised medical records would help track illnesses. I asked Lewis Moonie, the British defence minister responsible for veterans affairs, if Britain keeps centralised records.
He told me the answer is no. Each of the armed services has a separate policy. Local medical centres, or ships in the case of the Naval service, hold the primary care medical records of serving personnel, while any hospital treatment…
