Cancers stalk Viet veterans
By CHARLES MIRANDA, Defence Reporter, Herald Sun, Tuesday, May 6, 1997
SOLDIERS in Vietnam were more likely to take up smoking in a trend which was now leading to above average lung and throat cancers, a study reveals.
The Mortality Study or Vietnam veterans has found a link between cigarette smoking and war service.
The report released yesterday shows 224 veterans died of lung cancer alone since the end of the Vietnam War.
This represents a 30 per cent increase on the rest of the community.
Exposure to "stress and danger" was cited as potentiIally having encouraged the lifestyle which saw many people smoke during or after the war.
Australian soldiers were often issued with American field ration packs which included cigarettes.
Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Scott said yesterday the Federal Government would have to
wait and see whether the report's findings would encourage more veterans to seek compensation.
He said many who had already signed on for a compensation pension surrendered rights to sue through the courts.
But Mr Scott said he was concerned by the findings.
"Cancers forming in the head or neck were surprisingly elevated," he said.
"These cancers are usually caused by smoking and nearly all Vietnam veterans who developed these cancers are cigarette smokers who can trace their smoking habits back to their war service."
A letter would be sent to all GPs alerting them to the report's health revelations.
Vietnam Veterans Assoclatlon of Australia president Clive Mitchell-Taylor said stress led many to smoke.
"One of the issues tied with this is that the median age of veterans is now about 50 and as people get older and are finding it difficult to cope psychologically or physically, they will be seeking more help," he said.
Mr Mitchell-Taylor said having cigarettes in ration packs was then considered the norm.
Of the 59,036 male Vietnam veterans, 3341 have died since the end of the war.
Suicide rates among Vietnam veterans were higher than the rest or the community but head and neck cancer rates remained the "unexpected" klllers, being 50 per cent higher than expected.
The report stated Australian troops were exposed to herbicides and chemicals such as Agent Orange but It was difficult to directly link a dose to a cancer. On this point. the report concluded the variatious in veterans' mortality needed to be attributed to service in Vietnam generally
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Australian Vietnam vets dying too fast, says report
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuter) - Australia's Vietnam War
veterans are dying at a faster rate than other Australians,
according to a government study published Monday.
The study or more than 50,000 Vietnam veterans from 1980 to
1994 showed a death rate 7 percent higher than for the overall
male population and even higher cancer rates.
It found 224 veterans had died of lung cancer since the war
ended in 1975, about 30 percent more than would normally have
been expected.
Deaths from cancer of the head and neck were 50 percent
higher than expected. Overall, the death rate from cancer was
about 20 percent higher than it should have been.
The study also showed that Vietnam veterans may have an
increased risk of death by suicide -- 241 have killed
themselves, slightly above the normal statistical range.
Releasing the study, Australian Veterans' Affairs Minister
Bruce Scott promised a comprehensive program of education and
counseling and another study into the health of Vietnam veterans
and their families.
The study was only a statistical look at veterans'
mortality, although a number of causes have already been
suggested for higher death rates -- including the use of
herbicides such as Agent Orange.
A spokeswoman for Scott said the government was taking the
study seriously, especially because of what was known as the
``healthy veteran effect'' -- those who fought in Vietnam passed
strict medical tests and men with congenital medical conditions
were not conscripted into the army.
``Seven percent (higher death rate) is concerning because
you're talking about a group that should be healthier than
average and they're dying faster than average,'' she said.
Clive Mitchell-Taylor, president of the Vietnam Veterans
Association of Australia (VVAA), said the organization believed
the increased cancer rates were a direct result of exposure to
dioxin, a chemical in herbicides such as Agent Orange used to
defoliate the Vietnamese jungle.
He said that view was supported by recent U.S. studies
indicating that exposure to dioxins increased cancer rates.