Hanoi (VNA) - More than 30 years since the end of the American war, the government has been able to pay monthly allowances to 200,000 of the 3 million Agent Orange/dioxin victims nationwide with an annual budget of 50 million USD.
Non-government organisations have also given their hand to the cause and provided health care, improved living conditions and provided free vocational training and employment for another 1 million victims.
The Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Association (VAVA) has raised dozens of billions of Vietnamese dong toward the cause and the Vietnam Red Cross’ support fund for AO/dioxin victims has over the past decade received aid worth more than 500 billion VND from both domestic and overseas donors.
The Red Cross fund has assisted more than 667,000 victims through business start-up investment, vocational training and subsidised school fees, textbooks and notebooks for victims’ children.
It has also supported medical check-ups, treatment and rehabilitation, provided wheelchairs and also built homes for the victims.
The Peace Village , the Vietnam Friendship Village and a number of centres for disabled children were also founded nationwide to provide medical treatment, care and housing.
However, despite efforts by government and non-government organisations, demand is far from being met due to the breadth and complexity of problems Agent Orange/dioxin victims face.
In a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Washington DC last year, US President George Bush pledged 3 million USD in aid for the 2007 fiscal year to help deal with dioxin pollution surrounding the Danang airport and assist people exposed to the toxic chemical.
However, the US side remains silent about the time frame for disbursing the funds despite repeated requests by Vietnamese agencies.
During 10 years of war in Vietnam , the US forces dumped some 80 million litres of herbicides onto Vietnamese soil. The toxic chemical, that was mostly Agent Orange and contained 366kg of dioxin, affected 25,585 villages covering more than 2.63 million ha of land and affected more than 3 million people.-Enditem
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