The Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin Fund (VAVAF) made its official debut in Hanoi on November 20.

President of the VAVAF Management Board Nguyen Van Rinh introduced the fund’s targets through 2020, including building 165 communal, semi-boarding care centres and 1,600 compassionate houses for AO victims.

The fund also seeks to provide 3,300 scholarships and employment assistance totalling 180 billion VND for children of those who were affected by AO/dioxin.

In addition to that, the VAVAF plans to build three functional rehabilitation, convalesce and detoxification centres in the north, south and the central region and establish its own hospital, or work in combination with existing military hospitals, to provide treatment to AO victims.

On the debut ceremony, the fund received 2.4 billion VND from the military-run telecommunications corporation Viettel, the Military Bank, the Beer, Alcohol and Soft Drink Association, the People’s Police newspaper, and the Vietnam Women’s Union, bringing its total budget to nearly 4.4 billion VND.

VAVAF President Nguyen Van Rinh handed over 1.5 billion VND to AO Victims Associations of the northern province of Thai Binh, the central province of Quang Ngai and the southern province of Dong Nai to help them build semi-boarding care centres for AO victims.

According to the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange, up to 4.8 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to AO, including 3 million victims suffering from the affects of the deadly chemical./.