Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Tue, 8 Sep 1992 10:09:45 -0400
From:         Nhan Tran <tran@PEORA.SDC.CCUR.COM>
Subject:      NEWS/VN: VN women vets study

09/03

Vietnam Vets-Women

Copyright, 1992. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By PETE YOST
 Associated Press Writer
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nine thousand women from the U.S. military went to Vietnam
and one question still haunts many of them: What's the price to their health for
having served their country?
   And just as important, What's the price likely to be for other women in
future conflicts?
   The Department of Veterans Affairs took a step Thursday toward finding these
answers by authorizing a study of reproductive histories among female Vietnam
vets.
   The available data shows cause for concern.
   Though their numbers were small, female Vietnam vets had twice the death rate
from cancer of the pancreas and uterus as women in the military who hadn't
served in Vietnam, one study found.
   There are indications of health problems among female vets generally.
   A 1985 VA-commissioned survey found that female veterans -- not just those
who served in Vietnam -- have twice the rate of cancer than the general adult
female population.
   Subsequent studies suggest female veterans have five times the rate of
ovarian, cervical and uterine cancers, a finding that John F. King of the
Vietnam Veterans of America calls "extraordinary."
   "It has all of us concerned, and we need answers," King said.
   In the planned study of female Vietnam vets, "we're going to look at the
incidence of stillbirths, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer and other
diseases," said the VA's Dr. Susan Mather, assistant chief medical director for
environmental medicine and public health.
   The project is part of a congressional mandate. It stemmed from concern over
Agent Orange contamination in Vietnam and "the effects of military service in
often-exotic lands," Mather said.
   "The point is it's important to find out if Vietnam had an influence on
women's health so the VA can formulate programs to deal with it," says Shirley
Menard, who chairs the VA advisory committee that will monitor the work.
   "We're making strides, but we've got a long way to go," said Mrs. Menard, now
an assistant professor at the University of Texas nursing school in San Antonio.
   A bill pending in Congress would require the VA to furnish services such as
Pap tests, breast examinations and general reproductive health care to any
female veteran eligible for hospital care.
   Mrs. Menard and her husband were the first married military couple to serve
together in Vietnam -- she as a field hospital nurse and he as a mess sergeant.
   They have a child who is healthy, but with a learning disability.
   A private company to be selected by the VA will interview thousands of nurses
and other female veterans in an attempt to pinpoint the reproductive health
consequences of serving in Vietnam.
   Veterans Affairs Secretary Edward Derwinski hopes the study "will provide
answers to some of the questions women Vietnam veterans have."
   A pilot study will take three years to complete. A full study could take
another three years.
   There have been delays.
   Plans for one survey were scrapped. It would have duplicated much of the work
of earlier surveys of men and female Vietnam vets.
   A separate study is under way of post-traumatic stress disorder and other
psychological problems among women who served in Vietnam.
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