Efforts to ease the pain of Agent Orange

The pain that remains

For the past 2 years, the family of Mr. Bui Quoc Cuong - Ben Thuy ward (Vinh city) has been silent with laughter, only the sighs of the mother who has cried her eyes out because of helplessness in the face of her son's illness. Born healthy and intelligent, from childhood to adulthood, Cuong was a smart, excellent student with impressive academic achievements, the family's hope for a bright future. And his family never thought that the deadly poison would befall him and other family members, even though his father returned from the battlefield of Gio Linh - Quang Tri in 1972.

But suddenly one day, 5 years ago, while studying at Da Nang University of Industry, Cuong suddenly had a fever and fainted. When he woke up, he found himself in the hospital with a sentence of stage 4 kidney failure requiring continuous dialysis to maintain life. Since then, his life has been a series of miserable days when he had to be attached to a hospital bed with diseases that he could not have imagined would happen to a healthy young man like him. Those were brittle bones, chronic kidney failure, and big head... All were terrible consequences of the deadly poison dioxin.

In the case of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Mia, Khe Bai hamlet, Nghia Hoi commune (Nghia Dan), all three of his children were not like normal children since birth. The older they got, the more silly they became, laughing and talking. Although they are 30-40 years old, his children only lie in one place, or sit in the corner of the house, all their activities depend on their mother who has had diabetes for many years and their old and weak father, who is also a victim of Agent Orange.

Veteran Nguyen Thanh Luyen - Ben Thuy Ward - Vinh City has two children and grandchildren infected with Agent Orange/dioxin, now unable to live, work and study like normal people. Photo: Thanh Nga

Currently in Nghe An, there are more than 5,000 cases of children of resistance fighters who were exposed to toxic chemicals. They are the second generation suffering the most severe consequences, with no chance to live like normal people.

“The victims who are directly affected can usually still walk, their minds are still clear, many cases have cancer or peripheral nerve problems. However, the second generation affected by their parents have almost no chance to “live”. Many people have cerebral palsy, or have large heads, paralyzed limbs, spinal deformities, their lives are tied to the bed or even chained to the corner of the house to prevent them from breaking things or beating people,” said Mr. Dinh Viet Hong - Chairman of the Provincial Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin. According to Mr. Hong, up to now, the whole province has 14,486 victims, of which 9,523 are direct victims, 4,963 are indirect victims.

Among the victims, there are still some who have not received benefits due to lack of documents and are not eligible for consideration. The subjects infected with toxic chemicals are mainly those who directly participated in the resistance war and are currently aged 70 years or older, most of whom are in poor health and have many illnesses. Their children are deformed, disabled, have neurological and mental illnesses, are paralyzed, and are unable to work. Their income is mainly from chemical subsidies, so their lives are difficult.

Replenish the will to live

Over the past years, Party committees, authorities, departments, branches and organizations at all levels have made great efforts in mobilizing resources to care for and help Agent Orange victims and their families integrate into life and the community. The province has also established a provincial "Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims Fund" and 11/12 district-level units have established the Fund. Since 2015, more than 13 billion VND has been mobilized to support Agent Orange victims in building houses, providing medicine, supporting economic development, and supporting tools and means to increase the victims' self-reliance.

In addition, the movements "Action for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin" launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; or "Eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses", "Sustainable poverty eradication" were also widely deployed throughout the province.

Mr. Dinh Viet Hong - Chairman of the Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin said: "Currently, in many places in the province, there are many places where Agent Orange victims account for a large proportion, typically Thanh Chuong has 1,700 cases, Dien Chau has 1,400 cases, Tan Ky has 1,300 cases, Vinh City has 1,100 cases, but the proportion of supported subjects is still low, many families with three generations affected by Agent Orange/Dioxin are almost unable to work, only the mother or father raises a group of disabled children with a small allowance".

Mr. Cuong (Hung Loc commune), a victim of Agent Orange/dioxin, has become a successful businessman. Photo: Duc Anh

In recent years, the movement “For Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims” has had a fundamental change in the awareness and actions of Party committees at all levels, authorities of all departments and branches. Activities implemented by the Association of Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims at all levels have brought about practical results, received support from many people, creating high consensus in society. The Association has also become a support, a place to gather, unite, and encourage victims to have more motivation to overcome the difficulties and physical and mental pain that victims and their families are suffering.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long and his delegation visited and presented gifts to the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung in Hop Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Thu Huong

“However, the majority of Agent Orange victims are living in poverty, with rampant diseases but cannot be examined and treated regularly, so it cannot be said that we have alleviated all the pain they are suffering. For Agent Orange victims, we have only been able to provide them with essential material support, and only small gifts on holidays and Tet. Of course, in difficult economic conditions and a raging epidemic, that is also a great effort. But we need more connections and goodwill towards Agent Orange victims, those who have suffered severe consequences of war,” Mr. Dinh Viet Hong shared.

Mr. Hong also emphasized that, besides, there are still some people who participated in the resistance war and were exposed to toxic chemicals but have not received their benefits because there is no legal basis (the documents are still missing). This has been resolved by all levels and sectors for many years. A typical example is the implementation of changing the level of benefits for Agent Orange beneficiaries from the protection level to the regime for meritorious people. However, there are still many records, many subjects, even if they want to, cannot receive benefits because the legal basis is not enough.