VAVA to celebrate 10th founding anniversary

Rinh said the event aims to review its past activities, and set development orientations to fulfil tasks assigned by the Party, State and people. 

Over its decade of operation, VAVA has become a prestigious organisation caring for and protecting the rights of AO/dioxin victims. 

VAVA has also worked hard as a core force putting pressure on the US Government to deal with the consequences of toxic chemicals that its army sprayed in Vietnam during the war, he added. 

Through regular large-scale campaigns, the association has garnered 12.5 million signatures in the fight for justice for Vietnamese AO victims. 

Moreover, some US$34 million has been raised at home and abroad, used to help dioxin victims with production, house revamps and construction while opening additional rehabilitation centres, and offering them scholarships and jobs. 

VAVA now groups 59 chapters in cities and provinces nationwide with 315,000 members. As many as 24 rehabilitation and care centres are available in 24 localities.

*** A conference was held in Hanoi on December 17 to review the implementation of a project to rehabilitate people affected by Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin in Vietnam. 

Speaking at the conference, jointly held by the Health Ministry and the Hanoi School of Public Health, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Viet Tien said the project brought practical benefits for AO/dioxin victims and disabled people as they have seen their health improve. 

Dr. Tran Trong Hai, the project’s vice director, said the project was implemented in several districts in the three provinces of Thai Binh, Quang Ngai and Dong Nai from 2008-2013. It aimed to improve the quality of life and help AO victims integrate into the community via rehabilitation intervention measures, provide aid devices and knowledge transfer, and propose amendments to legal documents on rehabilitation for the infected. 

The project targeted AO/dioxin victims, who met difficulties in moving, seeing, hearing, speaking and studying, and those with strange behaviour, epilepsy, cancer and relevant chronic diseases. 

After five years implementation, the project provided health check-ups for 6,670 victims of toxic chemicals and disabled people and offered medical devices to 1,266 others. 

More than 1,000 people received surgery and were rehabilitated in hospitals, while over 7,500 others got the help at home. Ninety percent of them saw improvements in their health and were able to normalise their lives. 

In the coming time, the project will be expanded to all districts in the three abovementioned provinces, and three new localities, namely Lao Cai, Quang Nam and Ben Tre. It is scheduled to cover all localities across the country after 2020.