Agent Orange back under public scrutiny
10:21' 11/06/2008 (GMT+7)
Children learn primary level education via sign language at Duc Ninh Centre in Quang Binh Province’s Dong Hoi town.The centre is home to 76 children with varying disabilities caused by the effects of Agent Orange.
VietNamNet Bridge - A recent US Congress hearing has put the plight of victims still suffering from the devastating effects of the herbicide Agent Orange back under the public spotlight. VNS reports.
The repercussions of Agent Orange usage have been brought under renewed public scrutiny following a recent US Congress hearing, the first of its kind on the issue.
Concurrently, ongoing lawsuits against American chemical companies by Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims have drawn further attention to the matter.
Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) vice chairwoman Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong said early this week that the recent legal proceedings had made the public and the international community more aware of AO/dioxin and its continued effects.
However, she said that more work should be done on the part of the public, governments and researchers if desired compensation was to be attained.
1st Congress hearing
Le Thi Mit holds her son Nguyen Van Truong, 17, in their house in Quang Tri Province’s Cam Lo District. The area was heavily sprayed with Agent Orange during the war.
Two weeks ago, the hearing on AO/dioxin, Our Forgotten Responsibility: What Can We Do to Help Victims of Agent Orange, was convened by US congressman Eni F H Faleomavaega. Dr Phuong acted as a spokesperson for Vietnamese victims before the congressman and the Asia, Pacific and Global Environment Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
She discussed her experiences as a medical doctor working at the largest obstetrics-gynaecology hospital in HCM City, Tu Du Hospital. In her nearly fourty years of work at the hospital, she witnessed the birth of many children with severe defects.
Understanding that similar problems were occurring with American veterans of the war with Viet Nam, Phuong deduced that the birth defects were a product of toxic chemical usage during the war.
After researching the issue with her colleagues, she became actively involved in supporting AO/dioxin victims and has done so for the past 30 years.
Drawing on her extensive medical experience and her relationships with victims, she explained that the Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims had suffered worse exposure to dioxin than any other people in the world.
"Their suffering is severe. The victims and their families face extremely difficult living conditions due to illnesses and birth defects... The victims who suffer from cancer are dying everyday," Phuong said in her statement.
At the hearing, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Scot Marciel said that Agent Orange had long been a "sensitive issue for both countries". He said his government had engaged in practical and constructive co-operation with Viet Nam.
"We understand and acknowledge that the Government of Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people are concerned with the perceived negative effects of exposure to Agent Orange and its contaminant, dioxin."
Marciel also said that the United States did not recognise any legal liability for damages related to AO and that the discussion of the effects needed to be based on internationally standardised research.
However, Phuong explained that it was very difficult to determine dioxin levels in people because the quantity of dioxin in the human body falls by half every 10 years. It has been over 40 years since AO was first disseminated across Viet Nam.
Because of this irreparable time lag, Phuong said, "the required research results that the US Government wants could not even be acquired by the US itself."
Phuong said the issue was also problematic in that a sample test cost more than US$1,000 at a reliable lab. She said Viet Nam could not afford such high research costs for the estimated 40,000 required tests, given that the country already spent around $50 million of its small budget annually on supporting victims in daily living, health care and social programming.
In the past, the US Government has issued billions of dollars in payment to American Viet Nam war veterans and their offspring for diseases and defects known to be related to dioxin usage.
Immediate action
Nurses carry out health checks for children living at Hai Duong Province’s Social Support Centre. All the children at the centre have parents or grandparents who were exposed to Agent Orange during the American War.
Phuong said that the hearing was just a start for longer and broader discussions of responsibility and action.
She suggested that there were two things the American government and people could do to help victims: support them in independent living and clean up remaining hazardous areas. Cleaning up the environment would stop residual chemicals from further affecting local inhabitants.
She said support for the victims could include healthcare services, training opportunities and employment offers.
Professor Catherin Dalpino from Georgetown University said the US Congress should consider stand-alone legislation to provide humanitarian assistance and technical aid to Viet Nam on AO in order to ensure long-term funding for the issue.
Dr Vaughan Turekian from the American Association for the Advancement of Science said at the hearing that the US should help to set up an international-standard dioxin lab in Viet Nam. He said the lab could support Vietnamese scientists in testing environmental and human samples while also providing a training facility for future Vietnamese scientists.
Last year, US President George W Bush signed an appropriations bill that included $3 million for environmental and health remediation in dioxin hotspots in Viet Nam after meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Washington DC.
The pledged funding still lacks a plan for disbursement to the organisations who could offer victim support.
Continuing lawsuits
31-year-old Bui Thi Giang in Quang Tan Commune, Quang Xuong District, Thanh Hoa Province sits in the new wheelchair she received from VAVA’s provincial branch.
Since 2004, VAVA has actively pursued legal channels for compensation from US chemical companies, which they argue had knowledge of the chemical’s effects. VAVA is taking the lawsuit to the US Supreme Court in August.
"Our lawyers are preparing needed documents to submit to the Court," Nguyen Minh Y from VAVA said.
VAVA filed a complaint to the US District Court of Brooklyn, NY, in January 2004. However, the court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the chemical, designed as an herbicide, did not fit the definition of chemical warfare and therefore did not violate international law. In April 2005, the lawsuit was submitted to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, but it affirmed the lower court’s decision.
A petition for the case was submitted for a rehearing with a full bench judge of the Court of Appeals, but again it affirmed the previous decision.
In 1985, a lawsuit filed by American Viet Nam war veterans was settled out of court for $180 million.
Though the outcome of the Supreme Court decision for Vietnamese victims remains uncertain, Dr Phuong said continuing the lawsuit was important as it would keep attention and public discussion focused on the issue.
Phuong said it was better late than never for those responsible to own up to the issue.
Dalpino told Congress that, "Without visible efforts from the United States to lessen the damage caused by AO, the Vietnamese may easily come to view this issue as a clear negative in the bilateral relationship."
Regardless of the outcome of the August hearing, Phuong and others have stressed that the responsilibility to the victims no longer be forgotten.
VAVA praises Agent Orange walkers
The Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) praised the Orange Walk for its contributions to those suffering from the chemical’s effects at a meeting.
The meeting was held to mark the conclusion of the 1,700km walk.
As of April, participants in the walk, including Vietnamese and Americans, passed through more than 20 provinces and cities nationwide. In each region, they visited victims and presented gifts worth between VND500,000 (US$31.25) and VND10,000,000 ($625).
The team also organised entertainment activities and shared information about treatment and rehabilitation with victims.
On the way, many students and residents of Da Nang, Quang Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces joined the team. People made further contributions to the team for distribution to victims.
Despite the difficulties of the lengthy walking, the team members all expressed their happiness upon completing the event.
Pictures and video clips from the journey will be shared on team member blogs like those of Bui Thi Bao Anh and Bernie Duff.
"Through these blogs, we hope that the international community will better understand the pain of Agent Orange victims in Viet Nam, especially children," said one member.
Those wishing to offer support can visit the team’s website at http://www.orangecarers.com.
On behalf of VAVA, Do Xuan Dien, the organisation’s first vice president, presented books and CDs on Agent Orange victims to the team to further pursue their work.
"The initiative set up by US Viet Nam war veteran Bernie Duff is very meaningful to the victims. VAVA hopes that there will be more charity activities like this in the future," said Dien.
The team continued visiting Agent Orange victims in Ha Noi and Hoa Binh. In the future, the team will organise more walks in Viet Nam, America and other countries and provide updated information on victims.
(Source: VNS)