UK: Initiative hailed as “a start but a very small start”
The Government is reportedly setting up an Aviation Health Unit, in response to growing fears over the risks to passengers of deep vein thrombosis.
According to The Observer, the new unit “is being trumpeted as the first port of call for public enquiries and a body that would both investigate any potential health issues and identify the need for further research” – however, it has no staff as yet and will not be operational until the Summer.
However, John Smith MP, chairman of the all-party group on travel-related DVT, told the newspaper that the initiative had along way to go. He said: “It is a start but a very small start. It is hardly going to address the issue properly.” He added that he was leading a proposal to change the Warsaw Convention, that means airlines are not responsible for health problems on board planes.
As reported by News From Abroad, the High Court last year rules that airlines cannot be held responsible for DVT claims because they can only be held responsible in the event of an accident.
