This information was revealed by Dr. Le Ke Son, from the National Steering Board in charge of toxic chemical-involved issues, at a workshop held in Hanoi on July 12 to analyse the harmful effects of toxic chemicals sprayed onto Vietnam by the US army during the war.

According to Mr Son, the findings of another study on war veteran's diseases will also be presented at the conference scheduled to be held in Oslo, Norway, from August 21-26, with the participation of about 1,000 scientists from all over the world.

The official said the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will coordinate with relevant agencies to conduct a national survey of Agent Orange/dioxin victims in order to issue a policy on providing State allowances to third-generation victims.

During the Vietnam war, the US troop sprayed at least 80 million litres of defoliant, including 1 tonne of dioxin over southern Vietnam from August 1961 to July 1971.

According to the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, about 3 million Vietnamese people are AO victims out of 4.8 million people exposed to the toxic chemicals.