Japanese present gifts to AO victims

Nhan Dan Online/VNA - A 12-member delegation from Saitama Prefecture, Japan, has donated US$13,400 USD to build and upgrade houses for Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims in the central province of Quang Nam.

Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims
Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims

The donation was offered during the delegation’s visit to Quang Nam on the 53rd anniversary of the day the US began spraying AO in Vietnam.

On the occasion, the Japanese delegation witnessed the handover of two houses to local AO victims. The houses were built with support from the Japan-Vietnam Council for Peace and Friendship (JVPF) in Saitama.

The guests also visited AO child victims at a local care centre and presented gifts made by the elderly in Japan to the ill-fated children.

Chairman of the JVPF-Saitama Shigeru Yamashita said Japanese people sympathise with the Vietnamese people over the pain they are suffering from AO/dioxin.

He pledged to call for more support from his people for AO victims in Vietnam.

During the war in Vietnam, the US troops sprayed nearly 80 million litres of herbicides, 61% of which was Agent Orange, containing 366kg of dioxin.

An estimated 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to the toxic chemical, with over 3 million of them dying or painfully struggling from its serious effects.