China will continue to support Laos in tackling its unexploded ordinance (UXO) problems, said Chinese Ambassador to Laos Guan Huabing in Lao capital Vientiane on Tuesday.
Guan on Tuesday handed over medical supplies donated by the Chinese Embassy in Vientiane to the Center of Medical Rehabilitation (CMR) under Laos' Ministry of Health.
"China attaches great importance to the work of UXO clearance in Laos, and has been supporting Laos in the field in recent years. The two countries will continue to work together in order to provide Laos with more supports," Guan told Khamphet Manivong, director general of CMR.
Khamphet Manivong, for his part, thanked the Chinese Embassy in Laos for its supports, adding that the donated facilities are valuable not only materially, but also in a spiritual sense as they reflects the friendship between Laos and China.
According to statistics from the National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector in Laos, from 1965 to 1973, the United States dropped some 2 million tons of ordinance on Laos during the Vietnam War, including 2.7 million cluster bombs which are designed to break apart and release a payload of smaller bombs. As many as 30 percent of these bombs did not explode.
Before 2008, an average of 300 people had been killed and countless more injured from accidents related to UXO in Laos each year. At present, 41 out of 46 poor districts in Laos still suffer UXO contamination.
Established in 1962, the CMR was in charge of taking care of injured soldiers during wars in the past century, especially the Vietnam War.
At present, the center offers free treatment and prosthetics for the disabilities resulting from UXO accidents. Annually, the CMR provides treatment for 20,000 person-times of UXO victims and offers over 1,000 prosthetics and around 500 wheelchairs for disabilities by UXO.
