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| More than 5,000 volunteers and members of the Việt Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) as well as local residents walk to raise funds for Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims and people with disabilities on Sunday (August 5) at Đầm Sen Cultural Park in HCM City. Photo Đinh Hằng |
Viet Nam News
HCM CITY— More than 5,000 volunteers and members of the Việt Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) as well as local residents joined a fundraising walk for Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin victims and people with disabilities on Sunday (August 5) at Đầm Sen Cultural Park in HCM City’s District 11.
The walk, with the message “Do Not Forget Them”, raised funds from organisations, enterprises and individuals for healthcare services for AO victims and the disabled.
The event was part of a month-long campaign launched by the Red Cross in support of Agent Orange (AO) victims and the disabled that began on August 5.
The campaign marks the Day for AO/Dioxin Victims on August 10 and World Humanitarian Day on August 19.
More than 4.8 million people in the country were directly exposed to the herbicide during the war, but the number of people suffering from the insidious effects of Agent Orange could actually amount to dozens of millions, according to Trần Quốc Hùng, deputy chairman of VNRC.
Over the years, the Red Cross has spent more than VNĐ1.27 trillion (US$55.2 million) on helping AO victims undergo corrective surgeries, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and has provided vocational training and financial assistance, Hùng said. — VNS
