1.45pm
The Government will offer medical help to the children of Vietnam veterans and 1950s Christmas Island veterans despite finding no link between medical problems and the tours of duty.
Veterans' Affairs Minister George Hawkins said a report by the Wellington School of Medicine "showed no conclusive evidence of a causal
association between service in Vietnam and birth defects or childhood cancer in veterans' children".
There was also "no clear association" between medical problems and the children of Operation Grapple veterans and their parents service.
Medical assistance would still be offered to demonstrate the "Government's ongoing commitment" to assist the children, Mr Hawkins said.
Among those receiving assistance would be children conceived after their parents' service and now diagnosed with adrenal gland cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.
Funding would also cover out-of-pocket expenses for Vietnam and Operation Grapple veterans' children who suffer from spina bifida and/or cleft lip/palate. All forms of counselling, including genetic counselling, are available for the children.
Principal investigator Debbie McLeod, from the Wellington School of Medicine, said a team of three had systematically reviewed work already done, compiled those results, and "interpreted that in a New Zealand context".
The group had not carried out new studies.
The report looked at soldiers' exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and fears it was linked to high rates of birth defects in their descendants.
Agent Orange, which contains highly toxic dioxins, was used to clear forest in Vietnam.
The report also looked at what happened to about 551 New Zealand naval personnel who witnessed nine nuclear detonations during Operation Grapple at Christmas Island and in the Malden Islands in Kiribati during 1957 and 1958.
Symptoms among test veterans range from minor illnesses to cancers.
The release of the reports today coincided with two English lawyers interviewing New Zealand veterans who witnessed the nuclear testing in the Pacific.
- NZPA
