![]() Once they're in the questionnaire, the questions, which are quite lengthy, are not easy to complete or answer. Kristen Olson, director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Bureau of Sociological Research and a member of the reassessment committee, said Friday during a virtual public briefing on the report that the process to enroll in the registry was cumbersome and veterans had to go through various steps to become a registry participant. Furthermore, more than 130,000 veterans have begun their enrollment into the registry but have not yet completed it. Fifty percent of the 317,000 have requested an optional registry health evaluation, but only 30,000 participants have received the health evaluation. As of July 1, more than 317,000 veterans have enrolled in the registry and completed the questionnaire, which includes 140 questions. More than 3.7 million veterans and service members are eligible to enroll in the registry. It assessed how the VA and the Defense Department collect and maintain the registry's data regarding a veteran's health effects due to toxic exposure and whether the registry has fulfilled or can carry out the purpose. The second report, released Friday, focuses on the reassessment of the registry. The report addressed the VA's registry issues and data usage and reviewed the self-assessment questionnaire. The first report was released in 2017 and was the initial assessment of the registry. The VA chose and sponsored the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assess the registry and conduct the reports. The law also required an independent scientific organization provide reports on the VA registry to determine and monitor the health effects of veterans and service members' exposure to toxins and its public information campaign about the registry. It was designed to help the agency monitor the health of veterans, research the cause or origin of a veteran's disease or condition, improve care, support the agency's processes such as benefits claims and programs, and provide outreach to veterans, health care providers and other stakeholders. The VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry rolled out in June 2014. ![]() Included in the law was the VA's requirement to establish a registry to help service members and veterans report exposures to airborne hazards such as burn pits, oil well fires, and other forms of pollution and document their health problems. In January 2013, then-President Barack Obama signed the Dignified Burial and Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 into law. Veterans diagnosed with cancer, respiratory issues and lung disease at young ages have blamed exposure to toxic fumes. Throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars, the military used open-air pits to burn garbage, jet fuel, paint, medical waste, plastics and other materials. ![]() It also said the registry could not monitor the population exposed to airborne hazards. ![]() ![]() The report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - dubbed "Reassessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry” - found the registry in its current iteration could not fulfill its purpose of supporting research of the cause or origin of a veteran's disease or condition. "The health problems experienced by the many veterans who deployed to Southwest Asia warrant sustained and rigorous attention and need to be addressed, but the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry is not the right mechanism to meet all the needs," said David Savitz, professor of epidemiology at Brown University’s School of Public Health and chairman of the committee that wrote the report. WASHINGTON - A Department of Veterans Affairs registry used to track illnesses from burn pits and help garner treatment for sick veterans uses questionnaires that are too difficult to answer and make it useless for research about toxic exposure, according to a recent report from a private nonprofit institute. ![]()
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