The two-storey accommodation was constructed at a cost of nearly 9.5billion VND (441,860 USD) and spans a total floor area of 1,300 squaremetres. Thirty-five of the 40 available rooms will be set aside toaccommodate AO victims.
The facility is part of the project tobuild the centre for social protection of AO/Dioxin victims. Investedwith 351 billion VND (16.3 million USD), the centre which specialises indetoxifying and rehabilitating the target group is built in two phasesfrom 2014-2018.
Speaking at the ceremony, President of theVietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) Nguyen VanRinh underscored the need to build centres to care and providefunctional rehabilitation and vocational training for AO/Dioxin victims.
He also called on social organisations and individuals to work together to minimise the impacts of Agent Orange.
Itis estimated that more than 4.8 million Vietnamese nationals wereexposed to AO/dioxin. Many have died and millions of their descendantscontinue to suffer the effects of exposure to the chemical defoliantsprayed by US troops during the war from 1961-1971.-VNA