Vietnam will have a national data bank for research and the treatment of victims exposed to Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin.

A project to establish the bank was debated at a workshop in Hanoi on May 10.
The bank will collect and store documents, objects and analysed samples to study the impact of the toxic chemical on the environment, natural resources and ecological system.

Dr. Le Ke Son, Chief of the office and Deputy Head of the Vietnam Environment Administration, said the bank is expected to contribute to information and education about AO consequences while serving the legal struggle to obtain justice for AO victims.

At the workshop, participants agreed that AO consequences remain a big issue of international concern.
However, they said due to the lack of data, scientists have failed to systematically study the cost to Vietnamese people.

From 1961 to 1971, US troops sprayed more than 80 million litres of toxins - 44 million litres of which were AO that contained nearly 370kg of dioxin - over a quarter of southern Vietnam.

Source: vov.vn