Agent Orange conference tells US to take responsibility

An international conference in Vietnam on Agent Orange ended today with a plea that the US government and chemical companies take responsibility for the health problems believed linked to the wartime defoliant.

More than 100 activists and veterans of the Vietnam War from at least six countries, including the United States, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, attended the two-day conference in Hanoi.

Vietnam has said US aircraft sprayed about 80 million litres of defoliant, mostly Agent Orange, over Vietnam from 1961-71 to destroy forest cover for communist troops.

Agent Orange contains dioxin, a chemical that some have blamed for health problems ranging from cancer to spina bifida and diabetes.

The US government claims there is no direct scientific evidence linking dioxin to the ailments.