http://www.choike.org a portal on Southern civil societies http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/4777.html People with disabilities are an important social issue in Vietnam. According to government statistics, as of 2003, there were more than 5 million people with disabilities (PWD) in Vietnam, accounting for 6.3 percent of the total population. Nearly 8 percent of Vietnamese households had members who were PWD and most of these households were poor. A new research report conducted by the Institute for Social Development Studies in Vietnam focuses on individuals believed to be affected by dioxin from Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/643.html On the fundamental issue of accessibility the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires countries to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications technologies. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1406.html Does the national policy for persons with disability announced in February 2006 indicate a withdrawal of the State from its responsibility towards the disabled and a tendency to thrust that responsibility on civil society and communities?