Nationwide activities mark 55 years of AO/dioxin disaster
VOV.VN - Diverse activities marking the 55th anniversary of Agent Orange/dioxin disaster are being launched in provinces and cities throughout Vietnam.
Tien Giang province’s authorities visited and presented gifts to poor Agent Orange/ dioxin victims.
The province’s Association for AO/ dioxin Victims worked out specific plans until 2020, including mobilizing social resources to care for those affected by AO/ dioxin and actively responding to the struggle for justice for the victims.
Over the past 10 years, the Association has given more than 72,000 gifts, built 380 charity houses, and supported AO/ dioxin victims’ production with a total fund of nearly US$2 million.
A program to honor outstanding individuals and organizations in the movement to ease Agent Orange/ dioxin sufferings was held on Wednesday in Dong Hoi City.
Nguyen Quoc Tri, Chairman of Quang Binh province’s Association for Agent Orange/ dioxin, called on the community to continue supporting AO/ dioxin victims and help them integrate into society.
From 1961 to 1971, the US army sprayed 80 million litres of toxic chemicals, 61 percent of which was AO that contained at least 366kg of dioxin – the most toxic substance ever known in history, on nearly 25 percent of the area of southern Vietnam. That made 4.8 million Vietnamese people expose to the toxins, and more than 3 million of them were victims.