Tet gifts for Agent Orange/dioxin victims

Hanoi (VNA) - As many as 20 gift packages were presented to Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims at a programme in Hanoi on January 15 on the occasion of the upcoming traditional Lunar New Year (Tet).

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), said the programme, the second of its kind, received warm support from organisations and individuals at home and abroad.

He added that from January 1 to 14, the association along with the Vietnam AO/dioxin magazine and sponsors visited and presented Tet gifts worth over 1 billion VND (43,180 USD) to more than 1,200 victims across 23 cities and provinces nationwide.

The US army sprayed some 80 million litres of toxic chemicals, 61 percent of which was Agent Orange containing 366 kilograms of dioxin, over nearly one quarter of the total area of South Vietnam from 1961 to 1971.

Preliminary statistics showed that 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin, and about 3 million people became victims. Tens of thousands of people have died while millions of others have suffered from cancer and other incurable diseases as consequences of exposure. Many of their offspring have also suffered from birth deformities./.