
Hanoi (VNA) – A set of comic books aiming toraise children’s awareness of unexploded ordnance (UXO) accidents in Vietnammade debut in Hanoi on December 14.
The comics, compiled by the Vietnam Bomb andMine Action Support Association, consist of three collections, namely “Peter vamua he tren dat Viet” (Peter and the summer in Vietnam) with five volumes, “Bimat lang da tang” (The secret of the stone village) with three volumes, and“Nhat ky Sau heo” (The diary of Sau heo) with three volumes.
Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Hoa, Vice Chairman of theassociation, said about 3,000 copies of the comics have been printed, and theywill be distributed to some primary schools in the 19 most UXO-contaminatedprovinces and cities.
He noted that there are many measures toeliminate UXO-related accidents, and education to raise public awareness hasproved highly effective. He expressed his hope that the comics will helpimprove local children’s awareness of this type of accidents.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs, Vietnam is one of the world’s most UXO-contaminatedcountries.
It is estimated that about 800,000 tonnes ofUXOs were left across the country after the war ended, mostly in the centralregion. Some 6.13 million hectares of land are polluted with or suspected ofbeing polluted with UXOs, accounting for 18.82 percent of the country’s totalarea.
Since 1975, UXO incidents have killed more than40,000 people and injured 60,000 others, most of whom were breadwinners oftheir families or children.-VNA