Gulf War Illnesses: Federal Research Efforts Have Waned, and Research Findings Have Not Been Reassessed Page: 14 of 22
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RAC Officials Cite VA's
Poor Information Sharing
and Limited Collaboration
as Impediments in Meeting
Its MissionAccording to RAC officials, VA senior administrators' poor information
sharing and limited collaboration with the committee about Gulf War
illnesses research initiatives and program planning may have hindered
RAC's ability to achieve its mission of providing research advice to the
Secretary of VA. RAC is required by its charter to provide advice and make
recommendations to the Secretary of VA on proposed research studies,
research plans, and research strategies relating to the health consequences
of service during the Gulf War. (See app. II for RAC's charter.) RAC's
chairman and scientific director said that the recommendations and
reports that the advisory committee provides to the Secretary of VA are
based on its review of research projects and published and unpublished
research findings related to Gulf War illnesses.
Although RAC and VA established official channels of communication, VA
did not always provide RAC with important information related to Gulf
War illnesses research initiatives and program planning. In 2002, VA
designated a liaison to work with RAC's liaison in order to facilitate the
transfer of information to the advisory committee about the agency's Gulf
War illnesses research strategies and studies. However, RAC officials
stated that most communication occurred at their request; that is, the VA
liaison and other VA staff were generally responsive to requests but did
not establish mechanisms to ensure that essential information about
research program announcements or initiatives was automatically
provided to the advisory committee. For example, according to RAC
officials, VA's liaison did not inform RAC that VA's Office of Research and
Development was preparing a research program announcement until it
was published in October 2002. Consequently, RAC officials said that they
did not have an opportunity to carry out the committee's responsibility of
providing advice and making recommendations regarding research
strategies and plans. In another instance, RAC officials stated that VA did
not notify advisory committee members that the Longitudinal Health Study
of Gulf War Era Veterans-a study designed to address possible long-term
health consequences of service in the Gulf War-had been developed and
that the study's survey was about to be sent to study participants. RAC
officials expressed concern that VA did not inform the advisory committee
about the survey even after the plans for it were made available for public
comment.
Information sharing about these types of issues is common practice among
advisory committees of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which hasGAO-04-815T
Page 12
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United States. General Accounting Office. Gulf War Illnesses: Federal Research Efforts Have Waned, and Research Findings Have Not Been Reassessed, text, June 1, 2004; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc290823/m1/14/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.