Gulf War Research Funds to Increase
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Gulf War Research Funds to Increase
Date:
Mon, 4 Nov 2002 02:52:17 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Gulf War Research Funds to Increase
Sat Nov 2,10:53 AM ET
By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Department of Veterans Affairs' plan to sharply increase funding for research into Gulf War illnesses marks a turning point in how the government perceives the problem, the leader of a veterans group said Friday.
"We've had to fight tooth and nail to convince people that Gulf War illness was more than stress," said Steve Robinson of the National Gulf War Resource Center, an umbrella group of 60 veterans’ organizations.
The department announced this week it would make up to $20 million available for research in 2004. That figure is more than double the amount spent by the department in any previous year, it said. By comparison, the VA spent $8.4 million in 2001 and $3.7 million in 2002. No figures were available for 2003.
The announcement follows a VA advisory panel's report in June highlighting areas that needed more research, including a connection between the veterans' syndromes and neurological problems.
A VA spokesman, Jim Benson, said he doesn't view the funding as a change of direction for the department, noting that more than 200 research projects have already been funded by the VA and other agencies.
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