BOSTON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton's historic visit to Vietnam this week conjures up troubling memories from the past, but it also draws attention to a Vietnam War-related public-health disaster that continues to plague both Vietnamese and Americans: Agent Orange contamination.
Vietnamese researchers claim that between 800,000 and 1 million Vietnamese suffer Agent Orange-linked health problems, including cancer and severe birth defects.
In the United States, meanwhile, controversy still rages over the effects of the dioxin-laden defoliant on Vietnam War veterans and their children. Veterans fought for years to win compensation for a range of health problems associated with Agent Orange exposure, including Hodgkin's disease and respiratory and prostate cancers. Veterans whose children have spina bifida are also eligible for benefits.