Hanoi (VNA) - As many as 20 giftpackages were presented to Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims at a programme inHanoi on January 15 on the occasion of the upcoming traditional Lunar New Year(Tet).
Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh,Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA),said the programme, the second of its kind, received warm support fromorganisations and individuals at home and abroad.
He added that from January 1 to 14, theassociation along with the Vietnam AO/dioxin magazine and sponsors visited andpresented Tet gifts worth over 1 billion VND (43,180 USD) to more than 1,200victims across 23 cities and provinces nationwide.
The US army sprayed some 80 million litres oftoxic chemicals, 61 percent of which was Agent Orange containing 366 kilogramsof dioxin, over nearly one quarter of the total area of South Vietnam from 1961to 1971.
Preliminary statistics showed that 4.8 millionVietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin, and about 3 million people becamevictims. Tens of thousands of people have died while millions of others havesuffered from cancer and other incurable diseases as consequences of exposure.Many of their offspring have also suffered from birth deformities./.