By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
HANOI, Vietnam – Yesterday, the Church of Scientology announced that it would treat victims of Agent Orange. During the Vietnam War, American troops used this defoliant against communist insurgents.
According to the Guardian, between 1962 and 1971, the United State’s military sprayed at least 20m gallons of Agent Orange, among other herbicides, on approximately a quarter of South Vietnam resulting in 5m acres of deforestation. Furthermore, according to the Business Insider, during the late 1990s, the Vietnam Red Cross conducted a survey revealing that approximately 3 million Vietnamese men and women were affected by this toxin, including 150,000 children born with birth defects.
A doctor at the Vietnam Military Medical University, Nguyen Ba Vuong, shared with the New York Times that the Association for Better Living and Education, a group financed by the Church of Scientology, trained members of his clinic.
Moreover, Vietnamese news sources relayed to the New York Times that the program treated approximately 300 victims so far. The “Hubbard Method” includes, among other things, vitamin and mineral intake, vigorous exercise, and sauna sessions to induce perspiration. After 9/11 in New York City, Scientologists offered said services to those who may have been exposed to toxins. These measures have also been used to aid in alcohol and drug-related rehabilitation.
“I hope my wife and I will fully recover completely and will not suffer after-effects to pass on to my descendants,” said Nguyen Dai Sang to the Viet Nam News daily. Though those in Mr. Sang’s situation are hopeful, many researchers doubt the “Hubbard Method.”
“I would not expect that it would lower the body burden of dioxin in a given person,” stated Dr. Marcella L. Warner, a research epidemiologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Warner has studied the long-term health effects of dioxin exposure. Though she is not well versed in the “Hubbard Method,” Dr. Warner believes a program’s emphasis on excessive perspiration is not effective.
In addition, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Hanoi, Christopher Hodges, stated, “We are not aware of any safe, effective detoxification treatment for people with dioxin in body tissues. The best way to reduce health risks associated with dioxin is to prevent human exposure to dioxin.”
Although the United States purports that no link between Agent Orange and health problems exists, last month, it initiated a project to clean the toxins from a former airbase, where American troops previously stored and mixed the toxin. Furthermore, since 2007, Vietnam has received approximately $60m from the United States for forest restoration and social services.
For more information, please see:
The Business Insider – Vietnamese Citizens are Turning to a Scientology Detox Program to Cure Effects of Agent Orange – 06 Sept. 2012
Fox News – Vietnam Agent Orange Victims get Scientology ‘Detox’ – 06 Sept. 2012
The Guardian – Agent Orange Victims in Vietnam to get Scientology ‘Detox’ Treatment – 06 Sept. 2012
New York Times – Agent Orange Victims Get Scientology Treatment – 05 Sept. 2012
