[CPEO-MEF] Agent Orange Victims Need Urgent Help

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Posted on Mon, Jul. 29, 2002   
Agent Orange Victims Need Urgent Help, Experts Say
BY ANNA PELTOLA
Reuters

STOCKHOLM - Sick and disabled Vietnamese people need help now and cannot 
wait for studies to prove whether their illnesses are caused by the 
Agent Orange herbicide dumped on Vietnam during the war, experts said on 
Monday.

U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange over a wide area of Vietnam during the 
war that ended in 1975 in a bid to deprive Communist soldiers of food 
and jungle cover. Its use was stopped in 1971 after it was found to 
contain the known carcinogen, dioxin.

"We should not and cannot wait while the scientists continue to debate," 
Barry Weisberg, of U.S. not-for-profit group Violence Prevention and 
Peace Promotion Strategy, said at a gathering of health and environment 
experts in Stockholm.

Washington says there is still no solid scientific proof that Agent 
Orange is responsible for numerous medical problems, including tens of 
thousands of birth defects.

While the case for birth defects is open, scientists have established a 
link between dioxin and certain cancers such as soft-tissue sarcomas and 
lymphomas as well as type-2 diabetes.

Nguyen Trong Nhan, head of Vietnam's Red Cross Society and the country's 
former health minister, said there were an estimated one million victims 
of Agent Orange in the country, all needing at least $1,000 in 
assistance.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/world/3758443.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~