Jonathan Taylor : Agent Orange

: Agent Orange

Whilst the coalition forces were desperately trying to find “weapons of mass destruction,” at the end of the 2nd Gulf War, I decided to visit Vietnam and see the continuing effects of the US’ WMD Agent Orange. The deadly defoliant they sprayed on over 20% of the country to kill the jungle and foliage the Viet Cong were using for cover while fighting the Vietnam War. There are an estimated 650,000 victims of the poison in Vietnam, suffering from an array of baffling chronic conditions. Another 500,000 have already died. The earth where the spraying took place is still highly polluted but as yet no compensation has ever been made by the US Government. I went with two journalists from The Guardian Weekend Magazine for further information read their award winning story at- http://secrets-and-lies.co.uk

Tu Du Hospitals friendship ward for severely disabled children.

Tu Du maternity hospital Hoe Chi Mihn have a collection of birth defect still borns on display

Nguyen Van Tan, 9 year old from Quang Ngai province had a genetic heart disease condition. The doctors suspect it is Agent Orange related as both his parents were doused in the war. He died a couple of days after this photograph was taken

A Down's syndrome boy staying at Hanoi's Friendship Village where parents leave their disabled children to be looked after

The mother of this boy was directly sprayed on and her son is so disabled that his noise and throat need to be constantly cleared or he would drown in his own mucus.

Tu Du Hospital's friendship ward for severly disabled children

These two sister's bodies are a mass of scabs and open wounds, hands and feet worn down to stubs

Constant attention needs to be given by the girl's mothers to keep the wounds from becoming infected