Showing support and gratitude to Agent Orange victims

Fifty years have passed since Agent Orange was last sprayed in Vietnam and Laos, the health and environmental consequences for the people land of Vietnam and Laos are still severe. And it is a wall that hinders the development of our countries.

However, we still lack fund to carry out survey of the real impacted areas and people living in remote villages.

I call for all parties to see the importance of justice and human right of the victims in Vietnam as well as in Lao PDR and other areas in the world.

I call for cooperation from all parties to stop using Agent Orange and other chemical substance in the war and I also ask for kind assistance in form of providing fund and sharing experiences to be used in assisting the Agent Orange victims.

Agent Orange victims still suffer the consequences

Every day, some three million Agent Orange and dioxin victims in Việt Nam struggle to survive, living their lives with incurable wounds.

The efforts have brightened up the lives of many victims.

The Agent Orange in Vietnam Program is an online resource to help Americans and Vietnamese address the continuing health and environmental impact of herbicides sprayed in Vietnam during the war.

Sitting between the United States and Vietnam and within the U.S. policy community, this program promotes dialogue on solutions to the continuing impact of the wartime use of herbicides in Vietnam.

The war was ended but war legacies have still remained in Vietnam. Of them, poisonous chemicals left by the war are still badly affecting both people and natural ecology in the country.

Millions of children and grandchildren of those who have been exposed to the toxic chemical have been suffering inborn serious genetic illnesses, leaving great consequences to their families as well as society.

According to surveys conducted by American scientists, from 1961 to 1971, some 80 million liters of toxic chemicals, including 61% of the human-poisoning chemical of Agent Orange, were sprayed onto South Vietnam.

nearly 50 million liters of Agent Orange containing 366kg of the lethal poison of dioxin were sprayed onto 24.67% of South Vietnam. Scientifically, dioxin is the most poisonous chemical that man has found so far.

Thousands of people have already died and millions of others are now suffering serious illnesses, inborn deformities and disabilities as a result of Agent Orange.

Who has been exposed to Agent Orange? They are Vietnamese soldiers, volunteer youths, guerrillas, militiamen and conscripted labors who used to participate in combat or support combat in the areas sprayed with Agent Orange by the U.S. Air Force during the war.

AO victims live in a miserable state; many of them are homeless and poor. They are the most wretched among ill-fated people.

Since 2004, Vietnamese people and international friends have provided strong support and large aid for victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Especially, on the Vietnam Agent Orange Day and national anniversaries, Vietnamese leaders often visit and present gifts to families of victims of Agent Orange and centers for victims of Agent Orange.

The pain of Vietnamesevictims of Agent Orange in Vietnam is a common pain of the Vietnamese people and also the pain of people with common sense in the world.

Many residents in Gagetown, Canada and other places where the American chemical factories are located also have showed clear association between their diseases and the toxic chemical.

Dioxin still posed tremendous risks to human safety and health.

The U.S. has not adequately addressed this painful issue, not only for the Vietnamese people but also for many American soldiers, who were exposed to Agent Orange.