At the conference (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – An online photo display and a conferencetook place on August 9, focusing on the Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin disaster inVietnam and efforts to ease its consequences.
The exhibition, held at the site www.trienlamdacam.vn,revolved around the topics of the chemical toxic disaster; assistance from theParty, State and international friends; AO/dioxin victims’ fight for justice; rolemodels of victims overcoming difficulties for better life; and Vietnam’sefforts to address the consequences of AO/dioxin.
Meanwhile, the conference saw the participation of SeniorLieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association forVictims of AO/Dioxin (VAVA); Colonel Le Dinh Vu, deputy head of the Departmentof Military Science under the Defence Ministry; and Pham Thi Hai Ha, DeputyDirector General of Department of Social Assistance under the Ministry ofLabour, Invalids and Social Affairs, along with representatives from relevantagencies and AO victims.
They discussed the outcomes and orientation of the work totackle AO/dioxin impacts on people and land, while sharing information aboutsocial organisations’ support for AO/dioxin victims and the victims’ efforts toovercome their difficulties.
They agreed that all of the activities require largeresources and collaboration among authorities, people and internationalorganisations.
The US army sprayed some 80 million litres of toxic chemicals,61 percent of which was Agent Orange containing 366 kilograms of dioxin, overnearly one quarter of the total area of southern Vietnam from 1961 to 1971.
Preliminary statistics showed that 4.8 million Vietnamesepeople were exposed to AO/dioxin, and about 3 million people became victims.Tens of thousands of people have died while millions of others have sufferedfrom cancer and other incurable diseases as consequences of exposure. Many oftheir offspring have also suffered from birth deformities.
Over the past years, Vietnam has invested in and raised fundsfor dioxin detoxification projects to clean hundreds of thousands of cubicmetres of land./.
VNA
