Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam reportedabout 700,000 cases of acute malnutrition each year, of which about230,000 were severe and required medical treatment, according to Huynh Nam Phuong,deputy director of the Food and Nutrition Training Centre under the NationalInstitute of Nutrition.

Addressing a symposium held last week to discuss the treatment of acutemalnutrition among children as part of the draft revised Law on HealthExamination and Treatment, Phuong suggested that health insurance should covermedical treatment costs for malnourished patients.

She said malnutrition increased the risk of catching infectious diseasesamong children by up to 20 times.

Children with malnutrition also needed more time to recover, and malnutritionhad long-term impacts on children’s mental and physical growth as well asstudying ability, she said.

Acute malnutrition was caused by a decrease in food consumption and disease,for example, children often suffered from malnutrition after having diarrhoeaor pneumonia.

The rate of acute malnutrition could increase sharply due to unstable foodsecurity or a pandemic, Phuong said, emphasising the need for timely assistanceto ensure sufficient food and treatment for infectious diseases.

Acute malnutrition can be moderate or severe, and prolonged malnutrition cancause stunted growth. Stunting in early childhood has health consequences thatcan affect children throughout their entire lives.

The National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Affairs reported that the prevalenceof undernutrition among ethnic minorities mainly existed in the CentralHighlands, North Central region and northern mountainous region.

One in every three Vietnamese children under the age of five was eithermalnourished or overweight as a result of poor diets and a foodsystem that was failing them, according to UNICEF’s State of the World’sChildren 2019 report.

Former vice head of the Child Protection Department under Ministry of Labour,Invalid and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong An said there was a closeconnection between acute malnutrition and stunting.

“About 6-7 percent of Vietnam’s population suffer from acute malnutrition,” Ansaid.

“Vietnam is a top rice exporter but is also among 16 countries in theworld with the highest rate of malnutrition,” An said, adding thatmalnutrition was not only caused by a lack of food but also a lack ofmicronutrients like Vitamin A and iron.

Deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Department of Legal Affairs Dinh ThiThu Thuy suggested the State should take synchronous measures in terms of theeconomy, environmental hygiene, clean water supplies, food security, health careand education in order to address the issue, preventing it from becoming aburden on society.

She proposed that the examination and treatment of child malnutritionincluded in the Law on Health Examination and Treatment, ensuring therights and interests of children. 

“Acute malnutrition is listed internationally as a disease and there is alreadya treatment regimen in place for it, including inpatient examination andtreatment, and outpatient treatment and consultation,” she said.

In Vietnam, there were three specialised products for treating acutemalnutrition. They were not classed as medicine but still required s doctor's prescription,Thuy said.

“The Health Ministry has issued guidelines to treat acute malnutrition forchildren aged from 0 to 72 months. However, it’s hard for poor families tomanage medical costs for acute malnutrition,” she said, calling for healthinsurance coverage.  

Professor Hoang Van Minh, vice rector of the Hanoi University of PublicHealth, suggested that health insurance should cover severe acutemalnutrition treatment for children aged 6-59 months, with prioritygiven to ethnic minority and high-risk areas.

The World Health Organisation already recommends products formalnourished children, which are covered by health insurance in over43 countries around the world.

Minh said the National Institute of Nutrition had developed products to treat severeacute malnutrition.

If Vietnam developed national standards for these products, it wouldpave the way for firms to start producing them so that more childrenwould be treated and saved, Minh said.

As a result, Vietnamese people’s mental and physical development would beimproved, thus increasing the quality of the country’s human resources, Minhsaid./.