Invisible wound - The pain remains

Returning from war, Mr. Tong Van Vuong, born in 1945, lives in No Sai village, Sop Cop commune, Sop Cop district, Son La province. Vuong used to think that he was luckier than his comrades when he survived the war and came back with many plans and dreams of family life and economic production. Yet, Vuong could not believe that he was injured and infected with Agent Orange which stole him 45% of his health. Agent Orange infiltrated into his body, destroyed his health, but more frightening, it has been passed on to his two daughters with a rate of 71%. Now what will the future of his children be when the disease caused by Agent Orange never heals while his two children need blood transfusion once a year. Vuong is one of hundreds or thousands of the youths in Song Ma district (now Sop Cop district), who responded to the call of the Fatherland in 1971 to go to war in the battlefield in Central South Laos. Among those soldiers, there were some who never return, some leaving behind part of their body in the battlefield, there are people who returned healthy but they didn’t know that they were infected with Agent Orange.

Apart from Vuong, in his district (not yet separated from Song Ma and Sop Cop districts), there are currently 10 veterans receiving a monthly allowance. Notably, Mr. Do Hong Bo, born in 1944, residing in Song Ma town, is both a war invalid and a victim of Agent Orange who lost 42% of his health.

According to statistics, during the war in Vietnam, the US Military sprayed as much as 80 million liters of toxic chemicals, of which 61% is Agent Orange, containing 366 kg of dioxin, on to 26,000 villages and hamlets, with an area of more than 3 million hectares, equal to nearly a quarter of the total area of South Vietnam. Agent Orange/dioxin is among the most dangerous toxic chemicals in the world because of its lethality and its legacies that can be passed on to many generations. According to statistics, there are roughly 1 million Vietnamese people affected by Agent Orange, and many children born with birth defects that cannot be cured.

Among Vuong\'s comrades who used to live and fight in the area sprayed with Agent Orange by the US, many were infected and have post war legacies. Currently, in Sop Cop district, there is 1 person infected with Agent Orange, leaving legacies for his next generations. Many people have their degraded by diseases related to dioxin. In 1978, the Vietnam War Veterans Association founded a program to help its members infected with Agent Orange. The program provided health checks for over 300,000 veterans who directly fought or served in the Southern battlefields. They received health care and help to overcome difficulties. Besides, the program also supports for their children in medical care and special education.

With the spirit of solidarity and sharing to ease the pain of the victims, over the years, the Party Committee and government of Sop Cop district have carried out practical jobs such as: providing support to build houses, lending capital for economic development, especially providing free health care, and material and spiritual incentives, thereby partly mitigating the difficulties of the victims. Among the victims in the area, some have been provided with housing allowances worth at VND 40 million in accordance with Decision 22 of the Prime Minister. In addition, they can also access to capital from the Policy Bank for economic development. Children of the veterans, especially those infected with Agent Orange, have been provided with job with stable income, etc.

Along with mobilising resources for taking care of the victims of Agent Orange, the local authorities have coordinated with relevant sectors and authorities to advise and instruct the victims to make paper work for policy claim, and conduct a comprehensive survey of the situation of the victims. At the same time, all levels of the associations always attach importance to propaganda work, gradually improving the understanding of the social community about the functions and tasks of the association, about the Agent Orange disaster, and about the daily life of the victims. From the results of mobilisation, it has been shown that caring and supporting for the victims have become a regular socialised movement of the district, contributing to improving and minimising the difficulties of the victims in the area. Towards the 60^th Anniversary of the Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam (August 10, 1961 - August 10, 2021), we hope that the whole political system will join hands to alleviate the pain of Agent Orange to help those who have contributed to the country partly reduce difficulties and rise up to integrate into the community.