Moving On in Vietnam

Abstract

War and unrest mark the history of Vietnam. For hundreds of years, Vietnam has fought a number of foreign invaders including the French, Japanese, and Chinese. The U.S.–Vietnam War was just one of several chapters in this history, ending in 1973 with the Paris Peace Accords. The American War, as it is referred to in Vietnam, has been estimated to have resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans. The countryside is still dotted by unexploded mines, and questions remain about environmental health concerns such as the lasting effects of dioxin-containing herbicides used during the war. But as a bumper sticker spotted on a Hanoi street pointed out, “Vietnam is a country, not a war,” and today many of Vietnam’s most pressing concerns are related to post-war growth. About half of Vietnam’s current population of 80 million people is under 30 years old. This young generation, many of whom have a limited recollection of wartime, drives a sense of optimism about the future of the country. Foreign investment in this country for 2005 is estimated at US$5.4 billion, only a little less than investment in India, and Vietnam is expected to enter the World Trade Organization in mid-2006. This growth makes Vietnam a duality of a country, on the one hand facing the environmental problems typical of the rural countryside (such as those related to poor sanitation), and on the other facing the occupational and environmental health consequences of rapid industrialization. This was the setting of the joint Second International Scientific Conference on Occupational and Environmental Health and Sixth National Scientific Conference on Occupational Health, held in Hanoi on 16–18 November 2005. The conference gathered 176 participants with 194 abstract presentations. Most of the participants were from Vietnam; 44 were from abroad, mostly from other Asian countries. The conference was organized by the Vietnam Association of Occupational Health and the University of Washington, with the sponsorship of numerous Vietnamese, international, and U.S. agencies, including the NIEHS, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the John E. Fogarty International Center of the NIH. Early in the conference NIEHS director David Schwartz and Anne Sassaman, director of the NIEHS Division of Extramural Research and Training, presented the vision of the NIEHS for expanding global health as part of its five-year strategic plan and bringing the institute’s expertise to bear on the problems facing this growing country. “NIEHS-supported research has shown that air pollution, which is a big problem in Vietnam, can impact cardiovascular health and increase susceptibility to respiratory infections,” said Sassaman. “These and other environmental health concerns are a growing problem in the developing world.”