On September 28, with the witness of the leaders of the Ministry of Health, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Vietnam National Institute of Nutrition, the VNVC Vaccination System signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Asahi Group Foods, a member of the Asahi Nutrition Group from Japan.
Two leading prestigious brands in Vietnam and Japan are moving towards in-depth and comprehensive cooperation in nutritional care for children, focusing on scientific research, educational communication to raise awareness and practical guidance, especially creating the most favorable conditions for Vietnamese children to easily access high-quality nutritional products from Japan in a convenient, safe and reasonable cost.
The signing event of the two units is within the framework of the scientific workshop "Japan - Vietnam on improving weaning practices in the first 1,000 days of life for Vietnamese children" organized by the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, the Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the National Institute of Nutrition of Vietnam. This is an activity under the project "Survey to verify the commercialization of improving maternal and child health in the first 1,000 days of life in Vietnam" implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2023.
At the workshop, experts discussed and shared scientific information on child nutrition issues, aiming to raise awareness and take practical actions to provide comprehensive, scientific and appropriate nutritional care for Vietnamese children. According to experts, Vietnam is suffering from a "triple burden" of nutrition, including malnutrition, overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies.
Mr. Sugano Yuichi, Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office, said that over the past 30 years, JICA has been implementing many different types of cooperation in the health sector in Vietnam, especially in maternal and child health care.
“Japanese specialized knowledge and experience in meals and proper nutrition, guidelines for supporting breastfeeding and complementary feeding will be used and disseminated more widely in the future, thereby contributing to improving the health of pregnant women and the healthy development of infants and young children in Vietnam,” Mr. Sugano Yuichi hopes.
Sharing at the workshop, Dr. Pham Do Uyen, Head of the VNVC and Nutrihome Vaccination Center, said that to limit the risk of dangerous infectious diseases and develop comprehensively physically and mentally, children need to be fully vaccinated and have a proper diet.
During the period from March 2024 to July 2024, the VNVC Vaccination System and Nutrihome Nutrition Clinic coordinated with Asahi Group Foods to conduct a survey to provide a Japanese-style weaning guide, weaning products, and instructions on how to practice complementary feeding for children aged 6-18 months to parents who came to Nutrihome and VNVC Vaccination Centers for nutrition check-ups and vaccinations. The results showed that parents all found the toolkit useful and communicated appropriate ways to wean their children.
Ms. Vu Thi Thu Ha, Supply Director of VNVC Vaccination System, said that the system currently has nearly 200 modern vaccination centers in more than 55 provinces and cities nationwide, with the ability to serve tens to hundreds of thousands of customers who are children of weaning age each month. Therefore, VNVC has a particularly great advantage in bringing Japan's number 1 quality and safe nutritional products to parents, thereby helping Vietnamese children have more options for weaning meals that ensure reasonable and safe nutrition, thereby contributing to improving stature and intelligence from the first 1,000 days of life.
“With this cooperation, VNVC will not only provide safe, high-quality, and affordable vaccines for Vietnamese children, but also bring opportunities for children to receive nutritional care with prestigious, number 1 quality products from Japan. With full vaccination and good nutritional care, Vietnamese children will certainly have better health and a more solid foundation for the future,” Ms. Vu Thu Ha affirmed.
Ms. Vu Thi Thu Ha added that previously, the VNVC Vaccination System signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Group, Japan and deployed the first dengue fever vaccination in Vietnam, promptly protecting the health of millions of children from 4 years old and adults before the peak of dengue fever epidemic occurring in October every year.
The dengue fever vaccine, researched and developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Group (Japan) for nearly 45 years, has been widely deployed in more than 40 countries around the world. In Vietnam, the VNVC vaccination system is the first unit to deploy this vaccine at nearly 200 VNVC vaccination centers nationwide.
This is the first time Vietnamese people have had the opportunity to access the dengue fever vaccine after many years of waiting and witnessing the dengue fever epidemic, seriously affecting health and life.
