The Swedish Committee for Solidarity with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia supported the Agent Orange Victim’s Fund to develop three health projects to call for more international aids for the victims and their families. The campaign was launched in April to raise one million Swedish Kronor (US$135,000) for Vietnam’s victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin.
The project aims to improve housing conditions of victims, provide them with medical treatment and surgery for rehabilitation as well as open vocational training courses for the young handicapped, and provide them with facilities and funds to set up small workshops.
Agent Orange is the name given to a type of toxic chemicals used during the Vietnam War by the US forty years ago. The US forces used over 79 million litres of defoliant and herbicide made by 37 different companies such as Dow Chemical, Montaso Ltd, Phamacia Corporation, and Hercules Incorporated. The toxic chemicals contained high quantities of dioxin exceeding healthy levels by hundreds and even thousands, which have destroyed three million hectares of forest and crops in southern Viet Nam and the area surrounding the demilitarized zone.
In humans, the chemicals have caused cancer and physical deformities, as well as birth defects for children born to parents exposed to Agent Orange. Victims are estimated to be about 3 million with tens of thousands of related deaths, where many live with chronic diseases and fear that their children will inherit their suffering.
