Vietnam-US AO group makes field trip
(VNA) The Vietnam-US Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/dioxin made a field trip to the heavily AO-contaminated province of Dong Nai province on August 17 as part of a survey for a project to build centres on reproductive health and rehabilitation.
The group was seeking funding for the construction of a reproductive health consultancy centre and a rehabilitation centre for AO/dioxin victims in Dong Nai province’s Dinh Quan district, said Dr Nguyen Ngoc Phuong, a group member.
Apart from attracting donations, Dr Phuong will help train doctors and medical workers for the centres, with the aim of providing them with knowledge on how to provide consultancy and treatment for AO/dioxin victims.
At a working session with the Dong Nai Association of AO/dioxin Victims, Vu Hai Ha, member of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations and the group, handed over 700 million VND donated by businesses and organisations.
Dong Nai was one of localities most heavily affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, with over 10 million litres of the toxic chemical sprayed on half of the province’s area. As many 13,147 local people were exposed and 8,000 are suffering from health problems due to the exposure.
In the 1961-1971 period, US troops sprayed 80 million litres of chemical defoliants containing nearly 400kg of dioxin on Vietnam , according to the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange /dioxin.
As many as 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to dioxin, of whom 3 million suffered from health problems due to the exposure.
Established in 2007, the Vietnam-US Dialogue Group has worked to raise awareness among the US authorities and people, and encourage US and international communities to make more contributions to solving AO/dioxin consequences for Vietnam’s environmental and human health./.
