An additional 86,000 US veterans who were exposed to herbicides during the war in Vietnam or their spouses will be entitled to allowances paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The payment of allowances will be implemented after April 26, the effective date of a VA’s new regulation that adds leukemia, Parkinson and heart diseases into the list of health problems relating to Agent Orange (AO).
Earlier, the US government received petitions for compensation from 86,000 US war veterans in Vietnam who suffer from ischemic heart disease (IHD), Parkinson and B-cell blood cancers, also known as B-cell leukemia.
According to the VA’s new regulation, which was announced by Secretary Eric Shinseki on Oct. 13, 2009, US veterans who were exposed to AO during the war in Vietnam and were suffering one of the above-mentioned diseases were considered for the government’s social welfares.
The decision was made based on VA’s Institution of Medicine findings.
Accordingly, the categories of patients to enjoy allowance due to AO exposure will increase to 15.
The department also estimated that about 250,000 war veterans will apply for allowance in accordance with the new policy.
The policy’s most important point is the addition of IHD into the list of beneficiary diseases as the number of IHD sufferers accounts for 82 percent of the total war veteran patients.
According to the VA, of the total 86,000 new beneficiaries, nearly 70,000 are Vietnam-war veterans with an average age of 63. Of whom, 62,200 are suffering from IHD, 5,400 are B-cell leukima sufferers and 2,300 are Parkinson patients.
Estimated budget for the payment of allowances for sufferers of added diseases climbs to 13.6 billion USD in fiscal year 2010 and 42.2 billion USD in the next 10 years.
The VA estimated that more than 2.6 million US soldiers were exposed to AO during the 1965-1970 period./.
The payment of allowances will be implemented after April 26, the effective date of a VA’s new regulation that adds leukemia, Parkinson and heart diseases into the list of health problems relating to Agent Orange (AO).
Earlier, the US government received petitions for compensation from 86,000 US war veterans in Vietnam who suffer from ischemic heart disease (IHD), Parkinson and B-cell blood cancers, also known as B-cell leukemia.
According to the VA’s new regulation, which was announced by Secretary Eric Shinseki on Oct. 13, 2009, US veterans who were exposed to AO during the war in Vietnam and were suffering one of the above-mentioned diseases were considered for the government’s social welfares.
The decision was made based on VA’s Institution of Medicine findings.
Accordingly, the categories of patients to enjoy allowance due to AO exposure will increase to 15.
The department also estimated that about 250,000 war veterans will apply for allowance in accordance with the new policy.
The policy’s most important point is the addition of IHD into the list of beneficiary diseases as the number of IHD sufferers accounts for 82 percent of the total war veteran patients.
According to the VA, of the total 86,000 new beneficiaries, nearly 70,000 are Vietnam-war veterans with an average age of 63. Of whom, 62,200 are suffering from IHD, 5,400 are B-cell leukima sufferers and 2,300 are Parkinson patients.
Estimated budget for the payment of allowances for sufferers of added diseases climbs to 13.6 billion USD in fiscal year 2010 and 42.2 billion USD in the next 10 years.
The VA estimated that more than 2.6 million US soldiers were exposed to AO during the 1965-1970 period./.
