The online conference on AO/dioxin disaster in Vietnam, August 9, 2020. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

The exhibition, at www.trienlamdacam.vn, focused on the AO/dioxin disaster in Vietnam and efforts to ease its consequences including assistance from the Party, State, and international friends, AO/dioxin victims’ fight for justice, role models of victims overcoming difficulties for a better life, and Vietnam’s efforts to address its consequences.

“We hope the Party, state, local administrations, and the entire society will continue to pay attention to and create the best conditions both materially and emotionally for AO victims to stabilize their lives,” Nguyen Van Rinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Victims of AO/Dioxin (VAVA), said at the event.

He added, “On this occasion, I would like to call on individuals and international organizations including the US government and people to take more responsibility for helping Vietnamese people  overcome the consequences of the toxic chemical.”

The US army sprayed 80 million liters of toxic chemicals, 61% of which was Agent Orange/dioxin, over one quarter of the total area of southern Vietnam between 1961 and 1971.

4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin, and tens of thousands of them have died. Millions still suffer from cancer and other incurable diseases as a consequence of exposure. Many of their offspring suffer from birth deformities.

Over the years, Vietnam has raised funds for dioxin detoxification projects. AO/Dioxin cleanup at the Da Nang airport has been completed and work has now begun on a US-funded dioxin remediation project at the Bien Hoa airbase in Dong Nai province. 

Vietnam has signed with the US Agency for International Development a non-refundable aid agreement for 65 million USD to support Vietnamese people with severe disabilities in eight heavily contaminated provinces.