National Nurses United

NewsBriefs.3:March alt 2 3/16/09 6:30 PM Page 6 Vietnamese war veterans with health problems caused by Agent Orange recuperate at the Friendship Village in Hanoi Agent Orange Still Killing in Vietnam T h e l argest ch em ical warfare campaign in world history ended 38 years ago, but the damage it inflicted on human health continues to this day. From 1961 to 1971 during the Vietnam War, the United States military dropped an estimated six pounds per person of Agent Orange, a lethal dioxin, over 3,800 Vietnamese villages, as well as American troops, with the goal of defoliating the land to expose the position of fighters for the Vietnamese and to destroy their food supply. "Operation Ranch Hand" killed or severely injured 3 to 4 million Vietnamese and thousands of American GIs. Today, the third generation of Vietnamese is still suffering the legacy of Agent Orange. In addition to diseases connected to dioxin exposure, about a dozen regions around the country are still contaminated with hazardous levels of Agent Orange. People living near these "hot spots" have 35 to 100 times the amount of acceptable dioxin levels in their blood. As a registered nurse activist, I had the opportunity in January to visit several major Vietnamese cities to learn about the country's postwar development and the continuing effects of Agent Orange. The Institute of Medicine has documented 123 different diseases caused by Agent Orange. Today, the U.S. Veterans Administration recognizes the following diseases as connected to Agent Orange exposure: multiple myeloma, Hodgkin's Disease, soft tissue sarcoma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, leukemia, diabetes, and many severe congenital deformities. The Vietnamese government and people are doing their best to provide medical treatment, rehabilitation, residential care, medication, and food to victims of Agent Orange. Our group was able to visit the Friendship Village near Hanoi where war veterans in their 60s and teenagers with developmental disabilities live for up to two years to receive care and training in occupational skills. We visited the Find Out More About Agent Orange famous Bach Mai Hospital, one of I Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility the most important facilities in Campaign—www.vn-agentorange.org the country that was nearly I View an excellent film on Agent Orange, The Last Ghost destroyed by U.S. bombs in 1972. of War—www.lastghostofwar.com In Ho Chi Minh City, we viewed I The Friendship Village—www.vietnamfriendship.org 6 REGISTERED NURSE W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G shocking photographs of Agent Orange victims in the War Remnants Museum. Though the United States government in 1991 recognized that Agent Orange made American soldiers ill and provided a limited amount of compensation, it has not done the same for Vietnamese civilians. And lawsuits pursued by Vietnamese victims against both the U.S. government and the chemical companies which manufactured the toxin, the Dow Chemical Company and Monsanto being two main ones, have been dismissed by American courts, most recently the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2. In 2004, Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange launched an advocacy organization called the Vietnamese Association for Victims of Agent Orange, or VAVA, which includes members in almost every village in the country. Our group was honored to meet with the leaders of VAVA, who explained to us that, despite the government's efforts, Agent Orange is still claiming victims every day in Vietnam. Some 70 percent of families affected by Agent Orange live below the poverty line. And almost a quarter of those have at least three children touched by Agent Orange. The dioxin has permanently damaged the DNA of countless Vietnamese, and many parents of severely deformed children are dying from the chemical's lingering effects, leaving their children orphans. Medical workers in Vietnam are in short supply. VAVA stressed that it is the responsibility of the United States government to provide compensation to those who continue to suffer. Leaders of VAVA have appealed personally to President Bill Clinton, the Bush administration, and recently wrote to President Barack Obama. They have traveled to the United States to present their case at scientific seminars and U.S. courts. Recently, victims of Agent Orange toured cities across the United States to build the American movement to win justice for Agent Orange victims. With the presidential change in administration, their movement has new hope. In the United States, the Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, along with Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Public Health Association, along with numerous other groups, have relaunched the campaign with the help of a few members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. John Conyers from Detroit. —marilyn albert, rn MARCH 2009

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