Danang AO Victims to Receive Free Decontamination Treatment

Fifty six out of 62 people living around Da Nang airport who were recently confirmed to have been exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin (AO), will receive free detoxification treatment using the Hubbard method at the Hanoi Military Hospital 103 in September and October. In 2006, 62 local residents (four of whom have since died and two are now suffering from cancer) were randomly chosen to take blood tests for exposure to AO under the Da Nang Dioxin Assessment and Mitigation project funded by the US Ford Foundation. All the participants had lived for many years in the area around the airport and had shown no previous signs of AO exposure. Six years later, the shocking result was announced that all of those tested had been infected with the toxic chemical. Vo Duoc and 18 members of his family, as well as 64 year old Vo Thi Bang and her four children, were found to be contaminated with dioxin. Like other people in the area, they used water from local wells, caught fish in lakes near the airport, or took rainwater from the airport to grow vegetables and raise poultry. Bang said “No one in our family ever thought we were infected with dioxin, and the test results did shock me. I am now really worried about the future of my children and grandchildren.” According to previous figures, about 5,000 people in Da Nang were exposed to AO, however, that number will most definitely rise now. Chairwoman of the Da Nang municipal Association of AO Victims, Nguyen Thi Hien, said “This is a painful truth. For a long time we only cared for AO victims and their families who were directly affected by the toxic chemical left over from the American war in Vietnam, but now we must be concerned about those who have been indirectly affected by AO.” Hien suggested the Vietnam Association of Victims of AO, the Ministry of Defence, and the Da Nang authorities provide blood tests for all local people living near the contaminated airport. She added that Da Nang also needs to build its own detoxification centre to offer treatment for large numbers of AO-affected people. Earlier on August 9, the Ministry of Defense, the US Embassy and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) started a joint project on clearing up the dioxin contaminated environment at Da Nang airport. The project is focused on detoxifying 73,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment. The contaminated soil and sediment is being dug up and placed in storage facilities where it will be treated using thermal desorption technology. This process uses high temperatures to decompose the dioxin in the contaminated soil into carbon dioxide, water and chloride. After treatment, the treated soil and sediment will be safe for people who live and work in the area, according to both Vietnamese and US standards. The project will create about 29 hectares of clean land when it is completed in 2016. However, the problem of AO exposure for households near the airport has not been fully addressed. A project to investigate the level of exposure to dioxin and furan in the environment and residential areas surrounding the contaminated airport was launched in 2006, with the support from the Ford Foundation. The researchers discovered hundreds of units of dioxin and furan in the soil and sediment at the airport, including some substances that have been identified as carcinogenic. The war ended decades ago, but the victims of the tragic fatal legacy of dioxin contamination at Da Nang airport still need more support from the community, relevant agencies, authorities, and international organizations. (nhandan.org.vn Aug 27)