US-Vietnam dialogue group work on consequences of AO/Dioxin

(VOV) – A seminar was held on April 8 in the southern Dong Nai province by the National Assembly (NA) Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Vietnam-US Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin to review their activities in recent times.

The group said that 35 years after the US war in Vietnam, remarkable progress has been made in the two countries’ efforts to develop their friendship. However, the consequences of the war still badly affect millions of American and Vietnamese people. As a result, the group has called on the US to join hands with Vietnamese people in dealing with the consequences of AO/ Dioxin in Vietnam.

Over the next ten years, the group’s activities will focus on cleaning dioxin affected land areas, improving the devastated eco-system, expanding services for people with disabilities related to AO/Dioxin and their families. The total cost for such activities is estimated at US$300 million.

From 1962-1971, more than 20 million gallons of defoliant were sprayed by US troops over the US airports and military bases in southern Vietnam. The spray destroyed 5 million hectares of forest and 500,000 hectares of subsidiary crops. At least 4.5 million Vietnamese people and 2.8 million US soldiers were exposed to AO and other herbicides.

According to the Vietnam Red Cross, approximately 3 million Vietnamese people are suffering the consequences of AO/Dioxin which have caused many health problems and congenital defects.

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