The continuous effort of the Institute for the last twenty years was highly appreciated by society and high level. The Prime Minister Decision No. 230/1998/QD-TTg dated 30 November 1998 on organization of Research and Scientific and Technological Implementing Agencies belonging to the Ministry of Health has classified the Institute of Nutrition as one of six National Institutes. In 16 March 1999, the Minister of Health has signed a Decision on organization and activities of the Institute of Nutrition. According to this decision, the main functions of the Institute is research on nutrition and food hygiene and safety in order to propose the solutions for dietary prevention and treatment suitable with nutritional requirement and socio-economical development of Vietnam in each period. So, the actual detailed responsibilities of the Institute are as follows:
- Study on nutritional requirement and dietary pattern of Vietnamese people suitable with physiological status, ecological condition and socio-economical situation of the country in each period.
- Analysis of nutritional value of foodstuff used in Vietnamese diet. Establishment of standard of foodstuff quality used in Vietnamese diet.
- Study on food hygiene, contribution to development of legislation on food hygiene; contribution to development of indicators for analysis of processed and imported food.
- Study on curative diet, establishment of special diet ration for different pathological conditions.
- Study on situation of nutritional status, food consumption and food hygiene and safety.
- Study and propose solutions to improve nutritional status and to ensure food hygiene and safety.
- To supervise, speed up, monitor and assess execution of professional and technical tasks at nutrition and food hygiene and safety facilities.
- To develop plan and solutions to implement nutrition and food hygiene and safety activities, in details: organization network, scientific research, training and using professional staff, professional equipments, tools and medicine; implementation of nutrition and food hygiene and safety program, projects.
- To organize seminars and specific training courses on nutrition and food hygiene and safety.
- To disseminate information and knowledge on appropriate nutrition and food hygiene and safety.
Based on the functions and responsibilities of the Institute assigned by the State, the development approaches of the Institute during 20 years of development were identified as follows:
- To consider appropriate and hygienic nutrition as one of the essential factors for health and a basic human right. The Institute is assigned as a consultative agency on development and execution of an appropriate nutrition policy, suitable with the scientific development and socio-economic condition of the country in each specific period.
- To consider nutrition as an inter-sectoral approach, based on the result firmly basic medico-biological researches as well as on integration with the other socio-medical sciences in order to propose a right conclusions and highly feasible plan of actions.
- Based on the specific situation of the country, to develop the practical and feasible researches. To prioritize IEC, to consider it as an important bridge for application of theoretical knowledge into practice.
- To develop and execute the community nutrition programs to prove the concrete contribution of the Institute into the people’s health care and protection work.
- To pay attention in training young generation staff to provide sufficient manpower for the Institute’s departments, to rejuvenate the staff and to educate enthusiasm of profession to staff. To continuously upgrade scientific and technological potential of the Institute.
In the Government’s Decision 37/CP on oriented strategy for the people’s health care and protection work, nutrition related objectives that were introduced into the basic indicators for people’s health for period 2000-2020 are as follows:
- To increase the Life expectancy to 68 years old (2000) and 75 years old (2020) ·
- To reduce the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to about 35 per thousand (2000) and to 15-18 per thousand (2020) ·
- To reduce the Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR) to about 42 per thousand (2000) and to 20 per thousand (2020) ·
- To reduce the prevalence of malnutrition among under-5 children to 30 percent (2000) and to 15 percent and to eliminate severe malnutrition (2020). ·
- The average height of Vietnamese youth to be reached at 165cm in 2020.
- To eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) by 2005: goiter prevalence among children aged 8-12 will be below 5 percent.
The above objectives reflect the requirements and approaches of the nutrition policy in coming years.