Veterans' Group Releases Five Reports On Urgent Need for Care

By: Emily Vaughan Believing that the press and lawmaker need to pay more attention to these issues, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) today released a group of reports outlining what they call the five most urgent issues facing veterans of the wars in the Middle East and their families.

"The recent tragedy at the VA Hospital in Marion [where nine soldiers in Illinois died and 34 were injured due to substandard care] is the type of shortcoming in veterans' care these reports highlight," said IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff in a statement. "Providing new veterans with adequate care is one of the most significant challenges America faces and these reports offer a clear explanation of the most urgent issues."

According to IAVA, today?s veterans face a host of health and health care issues. This includes mental health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which afflict between 10 and 20 percent of Iraq veterans, according to the IAVA report.

PTSD and TBI have been linked in another study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. According to a survey of 2,500 soldiers taken at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, five percent of soldiers had had concussions in combat. Of these five percent, 45 percent had PTSD.

In addition, inefficiencies and complications in the veteran?s health care system make it difficult for vets to get timely and adequate medical care and disability compensation for these and other issues, IAVA reports.

The reports also cite other problems faced by soldiers and veterans. One report says that the overextension of the military, especially after the spring 2007 surge, is threatening its effectiveness, both in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where troops experience equipment shortages and in the military?s ability to respond to new threats as they arise.

IAVA also calls for an upgrade of post-duty education for returning soldiers, renewing the G.I. Bill to provide more money for soldiers? college education.

Many news reports in recent weeks have highlighted the surge of suicides about U.S. troops in Iraq and veterans of that conflict back home.

The full reports can be downloaded at IAVA?s Web site.