The Federal Government of the United States has allocated a total of $136 million to address the consequences of Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin in Vietnam since 2007, said Dr. Charles Bailey, former director of the Aspen Institute Agent Orange in Vietnam Program. Dr. Charles Bailey released the information at a seminar co-hosted by the Vietnam-EU Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the U.S.’s Aspen Institute in Brussels, Belgium on November 28 with the participation of representatives from foreign embassies in Belgium and the European Parliament (EP)’s agencies. The money has been used to remediate dioxin-polluted land at Danang, Bien Hoa, and Phu Cat airports, and fund healthcare services for victims in seriously-contaminated zones, he added. Dr. Charles Bailey also introduced a book titled “From Enemies to Partners – Vietnam, the U.S. and Agent Orange,” co-written by him and Dr. Le Ke Son, former vice director of the Vietnam Environmental Administration. In the book, the authors pointed out severe consequences of dioxin on Vietnamese people and environment over the last half century. The U.S. army sprayed around 80 million liters of toxic chemical in Vietnam during the war, 61% of which was Agent Orange, destroying three million hectares of forests. Preliminary data showed that 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO/dioxin. Tens of thousands of people died from exposure, while millions of others are suffering from cancer and other incurable diseases. (VietnamPlus, baotintuc.vn)
