Senior medical officers of the 19-member NATO alliance are meeting in Brussels today to examine reports of health problems linked to the use of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition.
A unit of 200 Irish troops is currently serving in the region but a Department of Defence survey has shown that levels of radiation at the Army camp near Pristina in Kosovo are normal.
The aim of the Committee of the Chiefs of the Military Medical Services (COMEDS) meeting is to exchange information about the incidence of serious illness among troops who have served as peacekeepers in the Balkans, where DU ammunition was used, and links to the substance's radioactivity or toxicity.
While NATO denies DU is the cause of recent cases of leukaemia among alliance troops, it ordered rapid action last week to gather the facts and reassure the public.
The medical officers are expected to hand on the preliminary findings of their information exchange to the alliance's newly-formed Ad Hoc Committee on Depleted Uranium, which is due to hold its first meeting tomorrow.
Belgium's Surgeon General Mr Roger Van Hoof has also scheduled a news conference for tomorrow at NATO headquarters where medical officers are expected to hand on the preliminary findings of their information exchange to the committee.
AFP
