Gulf War Research Planning Conference

In early 1999, CDC helped sponsor The Health Impact of Chemical Exposures During the Gulf War: A Research Planning Conference. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Public Health and Science, the National Institutes of Health, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry cosponsored the conference with CDC. The intent was to obtain broad public input into the development of a multi-year research plan for investigating the relationship between chemical exposures during the Gulf War and illnesses affecting Gulf War veterans. Concurrent workgroups developed research recommendations in the following areas:

• pathophysiology/etiology of illnesses among Gulf War veterans,
• the most appropriate methods for assessing and diagnosing the health effects of chemical exposures,
• the most appropriate treatment approaches, and
• ways to prevent similar illnesses in future military deployments.

A final report summarizing conference recommendations was released in March 2000 and is accessible at URL:

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/gulfwar/report.pdf [PDF - 219 KB].

The background document prepared for the conference that reviews Gulf War-related research conducted before 1999 is accessible at URL:

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/gulfwar/bdgw65.pdf [PDF - 357 KB].