Ministry of Health of Vietnam promulgates guidance on organizing the communication for Nutrition and Development Week in 2024 in Vietnam

Ministry of Health of Vietnam promulgates guidance on organizing the communication for Nutrition and Development Week in 2024 in Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On October 22, 2024, the Ministry of Health of Vietnam issued Official Dispatch 6486/BYT-DP to organize communication for the "Nutrition and Development" Week of 2024.

Ministry of Health of Vietnam promulgates guidance on organizing the communication for Nutrition and Development Week in 2024 in Vietnam

In response to World Food Day (October 16 annually) organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Health has directed the implementation of several communication activities to raise awareness, change behavior, and garner attention from various levels, sectors, and the general public about proper nutrition.

To continue supporting World Food Day, the Ministry of Health requests the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, along with relevant units, to organize communication activities for the "Nutrition and Development" Week in October 2024 with the theme "Enhancing access to diverse, nutritious foods to ensure food security and nutritional security for everyone," specifically:

- People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities should focus on and direct the Departments of Health to implement the following activities:

+ Direct and guide units in their localities to disseminate the content and message of the "Nutrition and Development" Week through various rich and suitable forms for different target groups, especially vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, mothers breastfeeding children under 2 years old; families in ethnic minority areas, remote, mountainous, island, and disaster-prone areas.

+ Collaborate with relevant agencies, departments, sectors, and unions to educate, propagate, and mobilize children, students, families, communities, and society to raise awareness about the role and importance of proper nutrition; enhance health, boost resistance, and contribute to the prevention and control of diseases; implement policies for a healthy diet and increase physical activity to prevent overweight, obesity, and non-communicable diseases.

+ Collaborate promptly with media outlets to strengthen health education communication activities, raise social awareness to improve knowledge, change perceptions and behaviors, and garner the attention of various levels, sectors, and the entire population regarding proper nutrition in general and nutrition for patients in particular; encourage a dynamic, healthy lifestyle.

+ Develop a communication plan and implement activities for the "Nutrition and Development" Week in their localities, ensuring effectiveness and practicality.

- The National Institute of Nutrition shall lead, in collaboration with related Departments, the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang, the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Central Highlands, and the Public Health Institute of Ho Chi Minh City, to guide and organize specific activities within the "Nutrition and Development" communication Week according to the above contents and report the results to the Ministry of Health (through the General Department of Preventive Medicine) as regulated.

What are objectives of ensuring national food security by 2030 in Vietnam?

* General Objective

Ensure sufficient food and food products for domestic consumption under all circumstances and partly for export; improve citizens' income to ensure access to quality food and food safety; gradually enhance the stature, physical, and mental health of the Vietnamese people.

* Specific Objectives

- Ensure food supply

Use rice land funds flexibly, enhance the efficiency of rice land use, maintain a stable 3.5 million ha of rice cultivation land, and produce at least 35 million tons of rice annually, serving as the core for ensuring national food security, meeting consumption, processing, storage, and export demands. Develop various vegetables and beans over an area of 1.2 - 1.3 million ha with a production of 23 - 24 million tons; fruit trees with an area of 1.3 - 1.4 million ha and a production of 16 - 17 million tons; production of various meats 6.0 - 6.5 million tons, fresh milk 2.6 million tons, poultry eggs 23 billion; fishery production 9 - 10 million tons...

- Ensure accessibility to food by citizens

Rice farmers in major commodity-producing regions should earn an average profit of over 35% compared to the production cost. Rural residents' income should be more than double that of 2020. Develop comprehensive infrastructure, logistics, and distribution systems to enhance food accessibility for residents...

- Ensure nutritional and food safety needs

Ensure nutritional needs with balanced diets, reduce rice consumption, and increase the use of meats, milk, eggs, fish, and various fruits, contributing to enhancing life quality, especially for school-aged children. Increase calorie consumption to over 2,500 Kcal/person/day; reduce malnutrition rates in children under 5 years to below 19% for stunting and below 10.5% for underweight; obesity rates of children under 5 years in rural areas below 5% and urban areas below 10%.

(Resolution 34/ND-CP of 2021)

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