FEATURE

; These ecological effects of U.S. chemical warfare
in Vietnam are grimly visible for anyone to see.
Cruelly visible also are the effects on the Vietnamese
People, a much more horrible consequence that has
Still to reveal its full ghastliness.

Dr. Vien states that ‘‘as early as 1970, Vietnamese
doctors noted the.existence of chromosomic aberra-
tions in exposed subjects and a disquieting increase in

number of primitive cancer of the liver, congeni-
tal malformations and abnormal pregnancies which
Seemed to be related to defoliant sprayings.”’

Initial studies of these cases were conducted in the
Hematology Department of Bach Mai Hospital in
Hanoi, but this hospital and its laboratory were them-

‘Selves destroyed by U.S. bombing in 1972. It was not
until after 1975 that more intensive surveys were car-
Ned out, continuing to the present time.

A prominent Vietnamese hematologist, Dr. Bach

uoc Tuyen, is quoted in the report:

Can defoliants induce lesions in sexual
chromosomes and cause them to be transmitted
to future generations? Research we have con-
ducted on children born of mothers who had
been subjected to sprayings of defoliants long
before their pregnancies also shows
Chromosomic anomalies at statistically sig-
nificant rates. So far we have not been able to
Carry out experimental studies on this aspect of
the problem of herbicides in the South. But our
hypothesis seems to be upheld by the frequency
of spontaneous abortions and congenital mal-
formations of the kind observed among mothers

- who have been subjected to radiation or have
been using some chemical drugs. Chromosomic
aberrations have been found by authors in the
Majority of aborted foetuses. So there is good
reason to think that defoliants not only have nox-
ious effects on the present generation but also
present dangerous consequences for future gen-
erations.

Chromosomic alterations may cause miscar-
Tiages, fetal death or congenital malformations. The
Persistence of these conditions long after the U.S.
chemical sprayings is comparable to the persistence
of chromosomic alterations in the Hiroshima victims
of U.S. atomic bombing. Ve

A comparative study of abnormal pregnancies in
three separate places in Vietnam was conducted by
Dr. Ngoc Phuong: in Thanh Phong village in the heav-
ily sprayed Mekong delta area, in the 10th District of
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) where two groups
of exposed people from a sprayed area and of never-
€xposed people were examined, and in My Van in an
unaffected area of the North. The frequency rate of
birth defects, in-utero deaths, miscarriages and other
Problems was much higher among people of the heav-
lly sprayed area.

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stroyed in Ben Tre province

LNS

Nuguyen Thi Thuy,

: ee a8 es : sor 3 . :
nine-month-old baby girl of Tran Thi Cu

c, 23, who was poisoned by U.S. toxic chemicals in the

second month of pregnancy. The photo was taken in 1975. The baby suffers from spindle-shaped head, wide
opened eyes, legs crossed in scissor-like position when lying down, and she’s almost without sense.

Vietnam’s Professor Ton That Tung (whose recent
death was a great loss to his country’s medical ser-
vice) made a study of the frequency of primitive

cancer of the liver. Records compiled by the
Vietnam-GDR Friendship Hospital in Hanoi reveal
significant increases in areas where heavy sprayings
occurred.

Preliminary studies by Vietnamese doctors point
to a primitive cancer of the liver rate five times
higher among people exposed to defoliant sprayings
than in non-exposed people.

As-far as the general health of the affected sectors
of the population is concerned, a careful survey of
heavily sprayed districts of Ben Tre province in the
Mekong delta, compared with surveys in non-affected
areas, shows significant increases of gastro-duodenal
disorders, chronic hepatitis, neurosis, neurasthenia,
and bucco-dental ailments among people from heav-
ily sprayed districts.

Dr. Vien asserts that the prevailing conditions of
bad health in Ben Tre and other provinces in South
Vietnam are directly associated with the chemical
sprayings and the concentrated bombing and shelling
perpetrated by the U.S. forces. His report concludes:

Chemical warfare conducted on a large scale
and over long years in Vietnam has led to both
immediate and persistent consequences that
are extremely-serious for both the natural envi-
ronment and for man. Vietnam now confronts
problems on a vast scale. In order to solve scien-
tific and practical problems arising in the fields
of economy and health, it needs considerable
technical and financial means. Effective inter-
national assistance and cooperation are indis-
pensable.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 29, 1983—Page 5

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