(VOVWORLD) - Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who has helped seek justice for victims of the devastating Agent Orange/dioxin used by US forces during the Vietnam War, is among this year’s winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards — regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prizes.
 The winners of the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awards. (Photo: RMA) |
Doctor Phuong dedicated her life to uncovering the truth about Agent Orange, seeking justice for its victims, and aiding the afflicted through her research, according to the Magsaysay foundation.
"Her work serves as a dire warning for the world to avoid war at all costs as its tragic repercussions can reach far into the future,” the foundation said. “She offers proof that it can never be too late to right the wrongs of war and gain justice and relief for its hapless victims."
Between 1961 and 1971, the US army sprayed about 80 million litres of toxic chemicals - 61% of which, containing 366kg of dioxin, was Agent Orange - across large swaths of southern Vietnam.
About 4.8 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to Agent Orange, and more than 3 million others who are their second, third, and even fourth generations have still suffered from pains and losses even when the war ended nearly 50 years ago.
The other winners announced on Saturday were a group of doctors who struggled to secure adequate healthcare for Thailand’s rural poor, an Indonesian environmental defender, a Japanese animator who tackles complex issues for children and a Bhutanese academician promoting his country’s cultural heritage.
First given in 1958, the annual awards are named after late Philippine President Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay and honor “greatness of spirit” in selfless service to people across Asia.
Professor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, born in 1944, currently serves as Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Ho Chi Minh City, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Society for Reproductive Medicine (HOSREM), and Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics (VAGO).
She previously held several key positions, including Director of Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Director of the Heart Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City’s Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, and President of Ho Chi Minh City’s Vietnam-US Friendship Association.
Professor Phuong has been awarded the titles of Labor Hero and People's Doctor, and the Third-Class Labor Order by the Vietnamese State.