(VOVworld) - More than 500 people representing over 20,000 Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims in Ho Chi Minh City gathered at a meeting on Sunday to mark the 51st anniversary of the AO/Dioxin Disaster in Vietnam. The City’s AO Dioxin Association also presented scholarships to 112 AO victims worth VND1 million each. The President of the City’s AO Dioxin Association Tran Ngoc Tho said: “Today we mark the 51^st anniversary of AO/Dioxin disaster, the biggest pain of Vietnamese nation. We are continuing new law suits and strengthen mass communications. Vietnamese AO victims are facing numerous difficulties. So we should work harder to ensure better healthcare for them and boost the research of the toxic chemical.”

HCM City now has more than 20,000 AO Dioxin victims, of which nearly 4,400 receive a monthly allowance from the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the remaining depend mainly on the public’s  support.