(VOVWORLD) - 63 years ago, the US military sprayed millions of gallons of Agent Orange over southern Vietnam. Many Vietnamese families are still suffering from the tragic effects of this toxic chemical. Local administrations are working hard to help them cope with the consequences of Agent Orange/Dioxin.
 Agent Orange victims are well taken cared of. (Photo: Tuan Kiet/VNA)
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Da Nang city has 5,000 victims, 1,400 of them children. Many families have 2 or 3 people with hearing, intellectual, or mobility impairments. The municipal Association for Victims of Agent Orange has raised millions of USD from charitable organizations and individual benefactors to help AO victims.
Ho Thi Lang of Hoa Vang district, whose mobility is impaired, is one of the beneficiaries. She receives 24 USD a month and was helped to open a grocery store so she can earn a living and support her children and elderly parents. She recently was given financial aid to build a new house.
“The municipal Association for Victims of Agent Orange helped us build a house. The local administration gave us money to open a business,” Lang told VOV.
In the first half of this year, the Soc Trang provincial Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin built 14 houses and provided other support at a cost of about 400,000 USD.
Nguyen Hung, Chairman of the Association, said, “We have mobilized resources to finance house construction, provide capital for livestock and farming, give AO child victims scholarships, and fund other programs to help them integrate into the community.”
Over the past 13 years, the "Joining hands to ease the pain of Agent Orange" program organized by the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) has called on people and soldiers nationwide to donate toward free medical exams and treatment, vocational training, construction and repair of charity houses, and gifts for disadvantaged AO victims.
 Lieutenant General Nguyen Huu Chinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (Photo: VNA)
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This year, VAVA hopes to mobilize 80,000 USD, said Chairman Nguyen Huu Chinh, adding that today Vietnam still has millions of victims of Agent Orange, who have suffered severe physical and mental pain.
“They need the sharing and cooperation of the entire society to alleviate their pain and hardship,” said Chinh.
In addition to livelihood support for victim households, since 2010 many veterans and youth volunteers have set up detoxification saunas at the Centers for Social Protection for Agent Orange/Dioxin Victims of provinces and cities.
This has improved the health of people exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin, said veteran Tran Xuan Dai from Ninh Binh province.
Dai recalled, “When I first came to the Center, I had no appetite, slept little, and felt a lot of itching inside my body. Now the itching has decreased, I sleep more, eat better, and my spirit and mind feel refreshed.”
At the Centers, AO victims get free guided exercise and health checks and vocational training and career guidance.