On November 24th, the Clinical Nutrition Conference on "Training and Using Nutritional Human Resources and Nutrition for Healthcare Services of Severe Patients at Medical Units" was co-chaired in Hanoi by the Ministry of Health, Ajinomoto Group and Ajinomoto Vietnam.

The conference welcomed 200 guests, with the attendance and chairing of ASS Prof.,Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien - Minister of Health; Mr. Kunio Umeda – Japanese Ambassador in Vietnam; Mr. Hoang Van Thanh - Deputy Director of Medical Management Department, Ministry of Health; Assoc. Dr. Le Danh Tuyen - Director of the National Institute of Nutrition; Prof. Yasuhiro Kido - Director of Science Researching and Training Division, Japanese Nutrition Association. In addition, the conference was attended by leaders of Ajinomoto Group and Ajinomoto Vietnam along with leaders, heads of central hospitals, provincial hospitals, medical universities and colleges. This is the fifth scientific conference in the framework of the Vietnam Nutrition Systems Establishment Project (VINEP).

The conference includes two main contents: the Signing Ceremony of the cooperation agreement between concerned parties and the Scientific Talkshow on clinical nutrition. To put it simply, the National Institute of Nutrition and Ajinomoto Group, Ajinomoto Foundation and Ajinomoto Vietnam signed a cooperation agreement together to carry out important activities in the next phase of VINEP. Accordingly, Ajinomoto will play the role of fostering the development of key activities of the project such as establishing the nutrition practice and dietetics rooms at the National Institute of Nutrition, training nutritional and dietetic human resources, co-operating to develop nutritional policies.

The golden population stage of our country will soon be replaced by the old population stage. Nutritional services, hygiene and food safety assurance for the community to prevent chronic diseases are urgent and essential requirements. In which, improving the quality of clinical nutrition in hospitals, thereby increasing the effectiveness of treatment and reducing the cost of treatment for patients are receiving great attention from leaders of health sector. Therefore, this conference is organized to call out health systems of all levels, health departments, hospitals and schools in the field to contribute to the development of nutritional training system as well as the development of regulatory system - nutritional policies to successfully train and create a favorable working environment for nutritionists.

Since 2011, grasping the current situation in Vietnam and with strengths in nutrition and health, Ajinomoto Group has studied and co-operated with the National Institute of Nutrition to initiate the Vietnam Nutrition System Establishment Project (VINEP). In 2013, the Project co-operated with Hanoi Medical University to establish Nutrition Bachelor training course - the first college-level nutritionist training model in Vietnam with first students. At the same time, the Project also provides technical assistance in the development of nutrition-related regulatory system of which the initial step is a Joint Circular regulating codes and criteria for nutritional professional titles enacted by the Ministry of Health and Home Office in 2015. Through which, nutrition is officially recognized as a profession in the healthcare system. In the upcoming period, the Project will continue to expand its scale of development: co-operating with related units to expand the training course of Nutrition Bachelor to medical universities and colleges across the country, developing Vietnam Nutrition Standards, etc. These are the strong foundation for the nutrition system in Vietnam, hence contributing to the improvement of nutrition and health for people.

In addition to Ajinomoto Group and Ajinomoto Foundation, which are main units in collaboration with the National Institute of Nutrition to implement the Project, VINEP also receives positive attention and support from relevant ministries and sectors in Vietnam such as the Ministry of Health and Japanese agencies, organizations such as the Japanese Nutrition Association, Japanese International Cooperation Agency together with many famous universities in Japan.