The Vietnamese government has provided welfare support for over 200,000 Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) victims on a monthly basis. The national steering committee on overcoming consequences of toxic chemicals/dioxin (Steering Committee 33) told a press conference in Hanoi on April 22, the steering committee office also reported that a series of projects are underway to detoxify dioxin-contaminated land areas. Nearly 7,500cu.m of dioxin-contaminated soil in Phu Cat airport have been removed and put in a closed landfill, while an ongoing project at Danang Airport funded by the US government is expected to be completed in 2016, said the office. Le Ke Son, Director of the Steering Committee 33 Office, said that the AO issue has received much attention of the mass media and the domestic and international public over the past 40 years, due to the severe consequences on humans as well as the environment. The Prime Minister last June approved a national plan of actions on overcoming AO/dioxin consequences in Vietnam until 2015 with a vision to 2020. A State-level research project has also been launched to clarify the harmful effects of dioxin and seek solutions to its consequences. Vice Country Director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam Bakhodir Burkhanov to raise public awareness of the issue. The government of Vietnam and its development partners are joining hands to minimize the after-effects of AO/dioxin, the UNDP official added. The Aspen Institute, a partner in the Vietnam-US Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, estimated that Vietnam would need around $410 million to deal with the consequences of the toxic dioxin in the 2012–2017 period. (vov.vn April 23)
