Salute to Veterans

Health issues faced by former and serving military personnel are a top priority operation for a UQ-based centre.

Post-deployment illnesses in Australia’s defence and veterans’ community and potential hazards from working in Oberon Class submarines are among the first research projects to be undertaken by a new UQ-based Centre.

The Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health (CMVH), headed by Professor Niki Ellis, is led by UQ in partnership with the University of Adelaide and Charles Darwin University (Menzies School of Health Research).

The CMVH, which opened in April 2004 and is the first of its kind in Australia, is a centre of excellence in researching health issues faced by serving and former military personnel.  It is sponsored by two Commonwealth Government departments, Veterans’ Affairs and Defence (DVA).

The CMVH is focusing on health research, professional development for defence health personnel, e-health and establishment of a strategic think tank with high-level input into the defence health debate.

Its first major research project is a health study to establish long-term surveillance of the health of veterans of recent Australian Defence Force (ADF) deployments. 

The pilot study is being conducted with veterans of the InterFET (International Force East Timor) operation in 1999-2000.  It includes a mortality study, a retrospective cohort study using a questionnaire, and collation and linkage of routinely collected Defence health data. This phase will be complete in June 2006.

The second phase, if sanctioned, will look at similar data for ADF personnel who were deployed on Operation Anode to the Solomon Islands in 2003-2004.

In February the CMVH, in collaboration with the UQ School of Population Health and the Australasian Centre on Ageing, was awarded the DVA competitive tender for research into veteran quality of life, health care utilisation and personal attributes.  The study reviewed data from a 2003 survey of entitled veterans, war widows and their carers to produce a model enabling issues such as describing veteran characteristics associated with specific health status to be properly analysed.

In May, the CMVH secured another Defence Department project to conduct an Oberon Class Submarine Occupational Hygiene Project.  The aim is to identify known hazards of the submarine and, where possible, estimate exposures and risk of harm.  This estimate will be based on the conduct of a retrospective occupational hygiene survey of the submarine, available literature and existing industry reports such as those from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.  This research will be a collaboration with the University of Adelaide.

CENTRE HEAD
Professor Niki Ellis
Email: n.ellis@uq.edu.au

Website: www.uq.edu.au/cmv

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