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Vietnamese
and foreign scientists gathered at a conference Thursday to compare
and verify scientific evidence of the debilitating effects of
Agent Orange on victims.
The conference in Hanoi represents an effort on behalf of all
parties in attendance to fight the battle for rightful compensation
for victims to the very end.
In attendance were some 200 local and foreign scientists, activists
and Vietnamese victims, double the number originally expected,
reported Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Experts speak up
According to Dr. Le Ke Son of Vietnam’s National Steering Committee
for Agent Orange Impact Relief, the latest studies show US troops
may have sprayed a whopping 86 million liters AO during the Vietnam
War compared to the previous estimation of 72 million liters.
Scientists have also detected gene and chromosome mutations to
those exposed to AO/Dioxin, resulting in serious birth defects
among offspring for generations, Son said.
“We still need more research to convince people of the link between
such deformities and AO/Dioxin, but the much higher incidence
of children with congenital anomalies in AO affected areas is
a testament to the deadly connection,” Tuoi Tre quoted Nguyen
Van Tuong of the Hanoi Medical University as saying.
Several Vietnamese did have normal kids but their children conceived
after the war were acutely affected by the defoliant while many
others gave birth to six or seven affected children in a row.
“AO/Dioxin is the culprit,” he affirmed.
Dr. B. Tsyrlov, who leads a study team from the US company Xenotox
added Agent Orange contains tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD),
one of the most stable and carcinogenic compounds know to man.
The fight goes on
However, the list of dioxin-related diseases released by the
US Science Academy has yet to include defects among the offspring
of veterans,” Prof. Bernard Doray from France said, adding “studies
on the toxicity have been distorted.”
Although the US Government has taken some steps to relieve the
impact of AO on the environment in Vietnam, it has denied responsibilities
and has yet to offer compensation to AO-affected people in the
country, he added.
“Therefore we must work together on proving the link between
AO/Dioxin and millions of affected Vietnamese and step up campaigning
in preparation for the appeal court in the US next month,” Doray
stressed.
The Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin appealed
to a US court in September last year after their class-action
lawsuit against 36 chemical producers was rejected the year before.
Artist Debra Kraus’s husband had fought in the Vietnam War, and
battled dioxin-related diseases throughout the rest of his life,
eventually succumbing to lung cancer.
At the conference, Kraus said she would do her best to raise
people’s awareness on the tragic consequences of AO and what its
Vietnamese victims are going through.
Kraus said after her husband’s death, she demanded compensation
from the US government and used the sum to do research on the
impact of dioxin, besides raising her voice on the issue by holding
arts exhibition since 1999.
“We can’t afford to ignore the suffering of Vietnamese victims
any longer and do nothing at all. We must act to help the affected
people and prevent more from falling victim to the AO and other
toxins,” she urged.
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