VPA joints hand in alleviating Agent Orange pain

During the war in Vietnam, the US Military used about 15 million tons of bombs and about 80 million liters of toxic chemicals, 61% of which was Agent Orange/dioxin, which is the most toxic chemical ever known to mankind. After the war, it was estimated that the number of unexploded bombs, mines and explosives left over were about 800,000 tons, polluting about 6.13 million hectares of land and about 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange/dioxin, of whom more than 3 million become AO victims. Most of the victims are veterans, directly fighting and serving on the battlefields in the South. They have sacrificed part of their lives and blood for the cause of national liberation. After returning from war, their health was seriously affected by Agent Orange/dioxin. Currently, there are still hundreds of thousands of victims who are struggling, and suffering every day and every hour because of AO-related diseases. More seriously, Agent Orange/dioxin can be passed on many generations, causing tens of thousands of children to be deformed and born with birth defects, detrimentally affecting our race.

Implementing the guidelines and policies of the Party and State, over the years, along with well performing military and defense tasks, the Vietnam People\'s Army has regularly paid attention to policy work for the rear of the military, including policies for victims of Agent Orange. The Ministry of National Defense has proactively advised and proposed to the Government many policies for AO victims; at the same time, directing its agencies and units to coordinate with localities to effectively implement policies under its authority. In defense diplomacy, overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals, bombs and mines and explosives left over after the war has always been a major content in promoting cooperation, especially defense cooperation between Vietnam and the United States. In people-to-people diplomacy, when international delegations come to visit and work with contents related to toxic chemicals in the war in Vietnam, the Ministry of National Defense always informs them so that they can clearly see the heavy consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin, thereby, making them sympathize and actively support the work of overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals and the fight for justice for Vietnamese AO victims.

Thoroughly grasping and implementing Directive No. 43-CT/TW dated May 14, 2015 of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee: \"On strengthening the Party\'s leadership in dealing with the consequences of toxic chemicals caused by the US in the war in Vietnam\", the Army has promoted propaganda, education, making officers and soldiers fully aware of the meaning, goals and requirements of the Directive; that taking care of and helping the victims is both a responsibility and a morality, showing humanity and deep gratitude for their great sacrifice to the nation.

The movement of \"Acting for AO victims in Vietnam\" launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front was enthusiastically responded by officers and soldiers of the whole Army and achieved remarkable results. The movement has been associated with the \"Gratitude Repaying\" Movement and the Drive of \"Studying and following Ho Chi Minh\'s thought, morality and style\". From 2015 to 2021, military units have supported, cared for and helped tens of thousands of AO victims with hundreds of billions of dong, most notably the Military Industry - Telecommunications Group (Viettel); Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB); the Navy; Military Zone 3; Military Region 5… Such help has alleviated the pain, hardship and difficulties in life of thousands of victims, contributing to the implementation of social policies, and strengthening the people\'s confidence in the Party, State and the socialist regime, building an increasingly firm \"people\'s heart and mind\" posture.

As the war has ended for nearly 50 years, many veterans infected with AO are still not entitled to preferential policies due to their lack of documentations, the Ministry of National Defense has directed the authorities to implement the project \"Investigating and decoding of military units operating in areas sprayed with dioxin by the US in Vietnam\", thereby, helping many veterans prove that they used to operate and fight in the area sprayed by Agent Orange/dioxin by the enemy. The units also provide archived military personnel records, closely coordinate with local authorities to help and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the victims in accordance with the policies and regimes of the Party and State.

Along with paying attention to implementing the policy for the army\'s rear, over the past years, military units, especially the chemical and engineering corps has, regardless of hardship and danger, actively deployed many programs and projects to clear unexploded devices; conducted investigation, survey, collection and treatment of war residual toxic chemical. They consider this a peacetime combat task. Military schools, institutes, hospital, the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center... have actively coordinated to promote international cooperation, scientific research and technological development, and participated in the international conferences on the effects of Agent Orange/dioxin on human health and the ecological environment; zoning and handling hot spots of toxic chemical residues. Military Hospital 175 cooperated with the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange to deploy the Center for Detoxification - Physiotherapy - Rehabilitation; proactively raise fund, promote international cooperation, and propose treatment mechanisms for the victims. Military Medical Academy has implemented the research project, namely \"Assessing the exposure to toxic chemicals/dioxins and proposing solutions to protect the health of troops stationed at Bien Hoa Airport\"; received the Hubbard detoxification technology from the United States... contributing to protection the health and better the treatment for the victims and the people.

The Ministry of National Defense has coordinated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement the Project of Remediation of Residual Toxic Chemicals at Da Nang Airport. After 6 years of implementation, with a total budget of 110 million USD, the project has treated more than 90,000 m3 of contaminated sedimentary soil by heat desorption method and safely isolated 50,000 m3 of low-concentration dioxin-contaminated sedimentary soil. As a result, the project has ensured safety, efficiency and met the national technical regulations on environment. Next, military units also completed burying and isolating dioxin-contaminated sediments at Phu Cat Airport (Binh Dinh). Currently, the Ministry of National Defense is implementing a project to build infrastructure and pre-treat toxic chemicals/dioxins at Bien Hoa Airport, Dong Nai province and Aso Airport, Thua Thien Hue province.

Agent Orange/dioxin disaster in Vietnam is still very serious and long-lasting. Therefore, in the coming time, military units need to continue to propagate and well implement the guidelines of the Party, policies and laws of the State related to the handling of consequences caused by toxic chemicals in war; actively coordinate with the VAVA agencies in the localities where they are stationed to \"join hands to alleviate the pain of Agent Orange\" with practical and effective actions, contributing to supporting and helping victims to alleviate their difficulties and hardship, step by step integrating into the community. Agencies, academies and research institutes of the Ministry of National Defense should continue to participate in scientific research of AO/dioxin related diseases, serving as a basis for consulting, proposing and perfecting policies for the victims; actively fight for justice for the victims in line with the Party\'s foreign policy and guidelines; thereby, promoting the movement against chemical warfare in the future; at the same time, actively participate in environmental protection, handling chemical incidents in production and social life./.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien

Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Minister of National Defense