Commitment

Assist in developing human resources at the minimum level of 20% of total dietitians or nutrition specialists required in Vietnamese hospitals

Donor organisation / Japan

April 2021 — March 2026

Description

Since 2013, we have been working to establish a nutrition system and education for dietitians in Vietnam. The 1st result was to help start the first-ever nutrition-dietetics bachelor course at Hanoi Medical University (HMU) in 2013. The second was the legal enactment of the job code for dietitians in 2015. Thirdly, in 2020, we could see the MOH Minister Circular on mandatory provisions to place one dietitian or nutrition specialist per 100 hospital beds in hospitals.

We set up a goal, in accordance with the above regulation, to help develop nutrition professionals at a minimum level of 20% (500 persons) of total dietitians or nutrition specialists required in Vietnamese hospitals by 2025, which needs a total of 2,500 professionals nationwide.

For the above goal to be achieved, we will;

1) Develop educational and training materials and tools for university students and the staff in the nutrition department in hospitals in Vietnam, for example;

- Textbook series for nutrition basics, theories and practice,

- Guidelines in accordance with international standards and to support clinical practices for diabetes patients, etc.

- Software to support education and training, as well as nutrition management

- Food sample or Food pictures with nutritional information

2) Hold workshops every year to encourage hospital executives and medical staff to recognize the importance of nutrition in hospitals and clinics. At the early stage, we will focus on Nutrition Support Team (NST) as the beginning of Interprofessional Work (IPW).

3) Make a survey on the situation of education for dietitians in universities and their competency, of which result will be utilized for our strategy.

4) Promote internship and training of professionals between Vietnam and Japan

5) Support research to show the evidence that nutrition professionals function effectively to alleviate or to solve nutritional and heath problems in Vietnam.

Overarching commitment (for commitments submitted pre-2025)

Title

Nutritional Initiatives of TAF

Description

1. GNIP: We will contribute to improving the nutrition status of infants in Ghana to the level of national targets to reduce stunting ratio from 21% in 2018 to 14% in 2025, and build a sustainable model through collaborative activities with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Yedent Agro Food Processing and EXP Social Marketing Foundation, as well increase the number of caregivers who make behavioral changes (consider balanced diet and taking KOKO Plus), to 430 thousand people (30% of the target population) in 2025. In addition to collaborating with the United Nations World Food Programme, the Japanese Government, agencies, embassies, local partners and NGOs, and especially the strong partnership with the GHS, we focus on understanding the beneficiaries, and approaching and responding to each individual to practically improve the nutrition status of infants with our product “KOKO Plus,” a food supplement for infants developed, produced and distributed in Ghana through our collaboration. A model that enables important activities and enhances feasibility is about to be established, and after building up and strengthening this model in Ghana, we would like to contribute to improving the situation in other countries in Africa that have similar problems. 2. VINEP We will support the development of nutritional human resources and the establishment of clinical and public nutrition (including school nutrition) systems in cooperation with the national institutions of Vietnam, to improve the nutrition and health of Vietnamese people. Specifically, in clinical nutrition, we will help developing human resources at the minimum level of 20% of total dietitians or nutrition specialists required in Vietnamese hospitals to support Vietnam's national goal of assigning one dietitian or nutrition professional per 100 hospital beds by 2025 (totally 2,500 professionals required). To achieve the above, we will spend 100 million yen from 2021 to 2025, and know-how support by experts for improving the quality of education and training, developing education and nutrition management tools, nutritional research, and public relations activities. 3. AIN We will provide grants totaling over 100 million yen between 2021 and 2025 for organizations working internationally to solve food and nutrition issues through practical activities, in Africa, South America and Asia. In addition, we will provide know-how for sustainable activities to improve and leave an impact on the quality of life of people.4. Disaster-Stricken Nutrition We will distribute the "ARIGATO Recipe Collection", created based on the know-how of the community participatory cooking classes we have conducted for 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, to 50,000 people nationwide. Using this tool, we will support the management of local cooking classes to urge healthy eating habits for residents by supporting the activity of “cooking together and eating together” in the regions. And we also will provide training and seminars to diet & nutrition volunteers 120 times in coming 2 years, to contribute to the capacity building of nutrition volunteers to communicate effectively with local communities in 60% of the municipalities in the three prefectures hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake. In addition, we will contribute to the creation of a system in which the food and nutrition of disaster victims are not neglected nor postponed in the event of disasters that will almost surely strike Japan in the future. We support people and organizations that are rooted in the community and carry out local support activities in the context of food and nutrition, in accordance with the 4th Food Education Promotion Basic Plan and Disaster Prevention Basic Plan of the Japanese Government. We provide the information and know-how accumulated in the reconstruction support project in Tohoku and through the disaster prevention activity network from the last decade, to revitalize local community support activities that reduce the mental and physical health risks of residents and extend healthy life expectancy, aiming to Build Back Better for individuals and communities. In addition, we will contribute to the creation of a system in which the food and nutrition of disaster victims are not neglected nor postponed in the event of disasters that will almost surely strike Japan in the future.

GNR assessment

Verification status
Verified
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SMARTness index

Details

Global nutrition target(s)
Anaemia
Low birth weight
Exclusive breastfeeding
Childhood stunting
Childhood wasting
Childhood overweight
Salt/sodium intake
Nutrition Action Classification(s)
Enabling > Operational
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Linked event(s)
  • 2021 Tokyo N4G Summit
N4G Summit theme(s)
  • Food
  • Health
  • Resilience
  • Data
  • Financing

Measurement

Key indicator Percent of dietitians or nutrition specialists in hospitals supported by VINEP
Value Measurement date
Baseline 5% 2021
Target 20% March 2026

Progress

Status:
Progress not able to be assessed
Why this status?
Despite the commitment maker’s active participation in the process, they were unable to provide the required information about the baseline data or the progress indicator’s updated (latest) level or status.
Value Measurement date
Progress report

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