The Australian Federal Government has announced a decision to commission a $13.5 million, eight-year study into the health of children of Vietnam veterans. The first results of this study will be out in 2009.
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Bruce Billson, announced the study this week, to be done by a research institute yet to be chosen.
Vietnam veterans' children have long been thought to be vulnerable to the effects of the defoliant Agent Orange and other health problems. Agent Orange, which includes the deadly compound dioxin, has been suspected of having an effect on human stem cells and thereby on future generations. More see: Veterans win $13.5m child study.