ID :
56035
Fri, 04/17/2009 - 19:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/56035
The shortlink copeid
Online meeting talks better support for AO victims
Hanoi (VNA) - Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said Vietnam would survey Agent Orange-dioxin victims throughout the country so as to provide them with better support.
The survey was in response to a Government request that included the supply of the
criteria needed to define who should be entitled to benefit from new assistance
policies.
Speaking on-line with representatives of AO-dioxin victims in Hanoi on April 16,
the minister said the Party and the State had made many efforts to overcome the
consequences of the defoliants sprayed on Vietnam during the American War.
Many policies and legal documents had been issued to help improve the physical and
mental state of the victims and their families, he said.
The Government spent more than 780 billion VND last year for AO victims who
participated in the war and their children.
In addition to a monthly allowance, the victims were provided with free health
insurance, health checks, treatment and rehabilitation.
Their children enjoyed priorities in education and training.
"However, the State had yet to devise policies for people who were exposed to
AO-dioxin during the war and those who have been living and working in the
contaminated areas," he said.
Hundreds of questions about the policies for AO victims were submitted for the
on-line session and almost all focused on the need to raise allowance for the
victims and their grandchildren and the need for a preferential policy for
grandchildren.
Many people said the response to dioxin in blood should be the same as for injured
with an allowance equal to that for invalids paid.
Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said she would
study and consider raising the allowance paid to the victims of AO-dioxin to equal
that paid to other invalids. Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) standing member Mai The Chinh said almost 40 years had elapsed
since the end of the war but the devastating effects of the defoliants were still
present in the damage to the environment and people's health.
"Severe genetic diseases have been responsible for various types of disabilities,
constant physical and mental pain as well as lingering social consequences," she
said.
Vietnam has about 4.8 million AO-dioxin victims, the US magazine Nature
reported in 2003.-Enditem
The survey was in response to a Government request that included the supply of the
criteria needed to define who should be entitled to benefit from new assistance
policies.
Speaking on-line with representatives of AO-dioxin victims in Hanoi on April 16,
the minister said the Party and the State had made many efforts to overcome the
consequences of the defoliants sprayed on Vietnam during the American War.
Many policies and legal documents had been issued to help improve the physical and
mental state of the victims and their families, he said.
The Government spent more than 780 billion VND last year for AO victims who
participated in the war and their children.
In addition to a monthly allowance, the victims were provided with free health
insurance, health checks, treatment and rehabilitation.
Their children enjoyed priorities in education and training.
"However, the State had yet to devise policies for people who were exposed to
AO-dioxin during the war and those who have been living and working in the
contaminated areas," he said.
Hundreds of questions about the policies for AO victims were submitted for the
on-line session and almost all focused on the need to raise allowance for the
victims and their grandchildren and the need for a preferential policy for
grandchildren.
Many people said the response to dioxin in blood should be the same as for injured
with an allowance equal to that for invalids paid.
Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said she would
study and consider raising the allowance paid to the victims of AO-dioxin to equal
that paid to other invalids. Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent
Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) standing member Mai The Chinh said almost 40 years had elapsed
since the end of the war but the devastating effects of the defoliants were still
present in the damage to the environment and people's health.
"Severe genetic diseases have been responsible for various types of disabilities,
constant physical and mental pain as well as lingering social consequences," she
said.
Vietnam has about 4.8 million AO-dioxin victims, the US magazine Nature
reported in 2003.-Enditem
