On December 15th, 2020, Ministry of Health organized the Launching ceremony for the “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software used for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers & children aged 7 months to 60 months”. Also at the Ceremony, Maternal & Child Health Department and Ajinomoto Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deploy the Software nationwide.
Participating in the Launching ceremony were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Son – Vice Minister of Health, Mr. Nguyen Duc Vinh – Director of Maternal & Child Health Department, Prof. Dr. Le Danh Tuyen – Director of National Institute of Nutrition, Ms. Tran Thi Huong – Vice Chairwoman of Vietnam Women Association, together with representatives of Departments under Ministry of Health; leading obstetric & pediatric hospitals, ministries’ hospitals and other related organizations; and Mr. Keiji Kaneko – General Director of Ajinomoto Vietnam.
At the Ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Son – Vice Minister of Health said: “Nutrition plays a critical role to women’s health during pregrancy, giving birth and breastfeeding, which impacts the small children also. Many studies have proven that nutrition in these stages is a deciding factor for not only the mothers’ health but also the fetuses’ development and children’s health, physique, physical and intellectual development later in life. Nutrition deficiencies during pregnancy can increase the risk of obstetric complications and preterm birth/ low birth weight”.
 

The “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software used for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers & children aged 7 months to 60 months” was developed with the aim of contributing to the nutrition and health care of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers & children aged 7 months to 60 months, thereby improving the nutrition and health for mothers and children in Vietnam.
This is also one of the efforts aiming to implementing the “National Nutrition Strategy for 2011-2020, with a vision toward 2030”, in which improving mothers’ and children’s nutrition is one of the top priorities.
On November 30th, 2020, Ministry of Health enacted the Decision No. 4976/QĐ-BYT of the Minister of Health on launching the “Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software used for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers & children aged 7 months to 60 months”, to be used at health organizations nationwide, including private health organizations, ministries’ health sector and in the community.

 On December 7th, 2020, Ministry of Health also released the Official Letter No. 6782/BYT-BM-TE on Guiding health organizations to deploy and use the Software on national scale, including 2 functions:
Function 1: Using menus in Menu Bank. The Software allows users to select nutrition-balanced menus from the Menu Bank developed by Ajinomoto Vietnam, based on nutrition standards approved by the National Institute of Nutrition.
The current Menu Bank consists of more than 1,300 dishes and will continue to be developed up to more than 2,500 dishes in the following years. These menus are non-repeatable; meet the requirement of energy, nutrient balance, food diversity; requirement of calcium, fruits and vegetables; suit the physiological demand and taste of different regions; are delicious and applicable.
Function 2: Making new menus. The Software allows users to create new nutrition-balanced menus by arranging dishes from the Menu Bank developed by Ajinomoto Vietnam, helping users to flexibly change ingredients, dishes and build new menus suitable with personal situation, preference, income, etc.

Especially, the Software boasts a Menu Bank with a variety of foods, suitable for mothers and children of different stages and regions. The Menu Bank was also directly evaluated by nutritionists, obstetric and pediatric specialists as well as sent to pregnant women/ breastfeeding mothers to cook at home for their tasting and evaluation, which served the development of model menus and detailed menus, in order to bring mothers and children nutritious daily meals, suitable with personal taste and ensuring food hygiene and safety. 
The Software can be used free of charge at the website of Mother and Children Project: 
https://dinhduongmevabe.mch.vn and https://dinhduongmevabe.com.vn.

 “Ajinomoto Vietnam shall continually cooperate with Maternal & Child Health Department & National Institute of Nutrition to deploy “Mother & Children Project” nationwide. We do hope to receive the strong support from leaders of Ministry of Health, the close collaboration from Maternal & Child Health Department, National Institute of Nutrition, and other relevant health organizations so that the Project can be deployed in all cities, provinces nationwide and bring the true values to its beneficiaries.”- said Mr. Keiji Kaneko – General Director of Ajinomoto Vietnam at the Ceremony.
Ajinomoto Vietnam will continue to collaborate with Maternal & Child Health Department, together with the advice, support and professional instructions on nutrition from the National Institute of Nutrition in order to effectively deploy the Mother and Children Project & its Software to provinces and cities across the country. With the Software and tools/information that support decent nutrition practice, the Project will contribute to improving the nutritional status and health of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children under 5, creating an important premise for the development of future generations of Vietnam.