Disposition of the Air Force Health Study

The Air Force Health Study (AFHS)-also known as the Ranch Hand Study-was initiated by the U.S. Air Force in 1979 to assess the possible health effects of military personnel's exposure to Agent Orange and other chemical defoliants sprayed during the Vietnam War, some of which contained dioxin. Over its 25 years, the AFHS has gathered exceptionally detailed physical, mental, and demographic data on nearly 2,800 subjects, including over 86,000 stored serum, semen, and other biospecimens. In addition, reproductive data were collected on 8,100 live births of offspring and mortality data on over 20,000 Vietnam War-era veterans. Disposition of the Air Force Health Study summarizes the contents of the AFHS data assets and offers recommendations on what to do with this trove of information. Its central conclusion is that medical records, other study data, and biospecimens should be transferred to a new custodial organization that would make the materials available for outside investigators for future research. Several organizations are identified as viable candidates to manage these assets.Institute of Medicine of the National Academies is the author of 'Disposition of the Air Force Health Study ', published 2006 under ISBN 9780309100991 and ISBN 0309100992.