Agent Orange - The pain remains

(Baonghean.vn) - On June 25, 2004, the Vietnam Fatherland Front decided to take August 10 (the first day the US military sprayed toxic chemicals on the battlefield in Southern Vietnam) every year as the day "For Vietnamese Agent Orange victims".

UC-123 aircraft sprayed Agent Orange in Vietnam

During the war in Vietnam (from 1961 to 1971), the US used 44 million liters of Agent Orange (about 72 million liters of herbicides were sprayed in South Vietnam) on about 1/4 of the entire area of ​​South Vietnam, mainly Agent Orange containing 366 kg of dioxin.

Dioxin is an extremely strong poison, very stable, difficult to decompose, and exists for a long time in the environment, causing serious soil and water pollution and forest destruction. Dioxin not only causes death but also leaves behind consequences for many generations of infected people.

Since 1961, the US imperialists have used toxic chemicals to spray on many fertile plains, densely populated areas with many rice fields and fruit trees such as the provinces of Ben Tre, Can Tho, My Tho... and many mountainous areas, the fields of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, the west of the provinces of Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai... on an increasingly large and fierce scale.

The US military sprayed 72 million liters of herbicides (including 44 million liters of Agent Orange, 20 million liters of Agent White, and 8 million liters of Agent Green) over 1.7 million hectares of farmland and forests in South Vietnam.

Currently, an estimated 4.8 million Vietnamese people are infected with Agent Orange/dioxin, living in the provinces along the Truong Son Trail and the border with Cambodia. Hundreds of thousands of them have died. Millions of people and their descendants are living in illness and poverty due to the after-effects of Agent Orange.

Through the results of 18 years of research by the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center, scientists concluded that Agent Orange has caused long-term medical and biological consequences on human health, not only for Vietnamese veterans who participated in the war, but also for the second and third generations, children of those who were exposed. Even children living in areas contaminated with toxic chemicals also show signs of illness.

Currently, it is estimated that more than 4.8 million Vietnamese people are exposed to Agent Orange, not to mention their children and grandchildren who have to suffer the consequences.

Agent Orange/dioxin has had an impact on ecological genetics, especially causing miscarriages, stillbirths or birth defects in women exposed to dioxin. Moreover, the long-term impact of Agent Orange/dioxin is not only a few decades, but can be up to over 100 years. The number of people affected by this poison is not limited to 4.8 million people but can be tens of millions of people.

Today, our Party and State have had many policy activities to deal with the consequences of toxic chemicals caused by the US in Vietnam; contributing to raising social awareness of the dangerous nature and long-term consequences of the Agent Orange disaster on the environment and people of Vietnam; mobilizing all classes of people, organizations and individuals at home and abroad to continue to help Agent Orange victims materially and spiritually; creating interest and support for domestic and international public opinion for the struggle for justice of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

A march of American veterans demanding compensation for Agent Orange victims in the US and Vietnam.

In particular, on May 14, 2015, the Central Party Secretariat issued Directive No. 43-CT/TW on strengthening the Party's leadership in dealing with the consequences of toxic chemicals used by the US during the war in Vietnam. The Directive clearly stated that the work of overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals used by the US during the war in Vietnam on the environment and human health is both an urgent and long-term issue, and is the responsibility of each Party committee, government, cadre, Party member and organization in the political system.

It is necessary to identify the task of thoroughly handling environmental pollution in areas where toxic chemicals remain and the program of caring for and helping people exposed to Agent Orange in the social security program and annual socio-economic development tasks of the unit and locality./.

Kim Ngoc

(Synthetic)