$300 Million Agent Orange Bill Set

35 years after the Vietnam War has ended, the US and Vietnam have agreed upon a 10 year, $300 million 'plan of action' to deal with the health and environmental side effects of their use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange is a herbicide that was used during the Vietnam war. The spreading of this herbicide resulted in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children were born with birth defects after the war. It also destroyed a total of about two million hectares of forest The new plan of action focuses on cleaning up the areas affected by agent orange and also to increase health benefits for those who were affected by the herbicide and other chemicals. The new plan of action is the culmination of a 3 year of consultation by the Aspen-sponsored and Ford Foundation-funded US-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin.