Vietnam Association Continues Support to AO Victims

The Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) has organized diverse measures to care for the lives of AO victims. According to Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Van Rinh, VAVA President, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to AO, with over three being AO victims, including many child victims of the second and third generations. Hundreds of thousands of AO victims are living with dangerous diseases. Since 2005, the State has issued diverse policies to care for AO victims’ health and to recover the ecological environment. Over 200,000 resistance war participants and their children infected by AO receive preferential policies set for revolutionary contributors; and over 50% of families with disabled members and AO victims are provided with free medical check-ups and treatment. However, statistics by VAVA show that some 100,000 resistance war participants have not enjoyed policies for AO victims because of lacking legal papers or adequate medical profiles. “Therefore, VAVA will continue to ask authorized agencies to tackle with these problem to help the victims access preferential policies,” said Mr Rinh. Over the past years, VAVA has bettered the dissemination of AO information to mobilize communities’ assistance for the victims, notably, the operation of the Da Lat city Association of Victims of Agent Orange in Lam Dong province. According to Le Ngoc Son, President of the city Association of Victims of Agent Orange, to mobilize donations for AO victims, the association placed boxes to collect humanitarian money in tourism sites and public places, collecting VND15-20 million each month. “So far over VND910 million has been collected by this way,” said Mr. Son. The money has been spent on caring for AO victims, especially those living in disadvantaged circumstances and with serious illness. “Over the past 5 years, the association have assisted 1,400 members using VND560 million,” Mr. Son went on to say. The VAVA calling on assistance for AO victims has brought in over VND911 billion in donations from organizations and individuals over the past five years. The capital has been used to build 24 rehabilitation centers for AO victims; provide employment assistance for 500 victims; construct and repair 1,582 houses; grant 3,337 scholarships; and give presents, free medical check-ups and medicine to 78,000 victims. (Dangcongsan.vn July 22)