New study will focus on the health of female veterans
Douglas Karr, Petty Officer Second Class, United States Navy Veteran
Contact us if you are a veteran who was exposed to asbestos during military service and we'll send you additional information, free of charge.
Nearly forty years after the end of the Vietnam War, the VA has announced that it will fund a four-year initiative that will examine the overall health of female Vietnam veterans. The study will cost an estimated $5.6 million dollars.
The VA wants to conduct research related to the mental and physical health of female Vietnam vets in an effort to better understand the long-term consequences of war. Because the experience of female veterans is so different from their male counterparts, this study will provide important information to the VA and the military. Over 10,000 female vets served during the Vietnam conflict in Vietnam, Southeast Asia and here at home in the United States.
The VA will begin by studying the medical records of these female veterans, followed by interviews. The VA will focus on the frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how it relates to the other physical and emotional issues that commonly plague veterans.
Veterans who served during World War II, the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and also those who served during Desert Storm to the present time are not only faced with the issue of PTSD, but a variety of other physical and mental ailments as well. Those who served during WWII aboard naval ships, for example, were likely exposed to asbestos dust, which is a known carcinogen. Decades later, these veterans may be diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that has no cure and affects less than 3,000 individuals, especially veterans, each year. In addition to mesothelioma cancer, many vets developed brain tumors or other cancers as a result of exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam.
This study is so important, according to the VA, because women are the fastest-growing division of the military veteran population. Back in 1988, only four percent of veterans were female, but that figure has since doubled. The VA estimates that one in ten vets will be a woman by the year 2020.
It’s no secret that the health of veterans in general is often overlooked by the VA. Iraq vet Kayla Williams told MedPage Today that the issues faced by women veterans are very different to those faced by males, a fact that is often misunderstood by the VA and male military officials.
“They certainly do not understand what it is like,” Williams said. “It is therefore vital that the VA provide times or places where women veterans…can feel safe and comfortable.”
Perhaps the most pressing issue for female vets is military sexual harassment. Williams believes that the VA “may not be aware of” the challenges that women in the military face, especially when it comes to sexual trauma sustained during one’s time in the military.
Senator Daniel Akaka, a Dem from Hawaii, agrees with Williams, stating that there is a lack of understanding of the needs of women veterans on the VA’s part.
“VA doesn’t have a thoroughly gender-focused range of care” for female veterans, Sen. Akaka told his colleagues at July’s Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs meeting.
“For too long, the approach to helping veterans avoid obstacles to VA benefits and services has been predominately focused on men.”
The results of the study will undoubtedly provide the VA with information that will help them improve the care of female veterans. Sen. Akaka agreed, saying that the study is an important step in preparing for an increase in the number of women who are serving in our military.