A&T response

A&T’s strategies will help the Government of Viet Nam achieve its goal of doubling the rate of exclusive breastfeeding and accelerating the reduction of stunting. A&T aims to create a supportive environment for improved IYCF practices through policy dialogue, a franchise model for IYCF counseling services, and expanded access to a micronutrient powders.

Strategy 1. Policy dialogue

One of the objectives of policy dialogue is increased use of evidence for planning and implementation of IYCF activities, especially at the provincial level. Other objectives include a unified force for the monitoring and enforcement of the code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes (Decree 21) and an unequivocal medical fraternity that champions exclusive breastfeeding for infants under 6 months old.

Action plan

  • Develop province-specific and national policy goals and advocacy strategies based on in-depth policy research
  • Engage Provincial People’s Committees to effectively allocate increased resources to IYCF
  • Identify, recruit, and train members within the Viet Nam Women’s Union, the media, and other key opinion leaders as IYCF champions at both the provincial and national levels
  • Strengthen compliance of the code of marketing of breastmilk substitutes
  • Engage medical practitioners/associations to counter widely held misconceptions and protect and promote the importance of exclusive breastfeeding
  • Provide technical support for national policy/strategy development

 

Strategy 2. Facility, community, and media activities

In Viet Nam Alive & Thrive will reach nearly 1 million children under 2 years of age with facility- and community-based activities and another 1.5 million through mass media across all 63 provinces. In 2011 A&T will introduce a franchise model in health facilities that includes group sessions and IYCF one-on-one counseling services to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and fathers. The intent is for these services to gain sufficient brand equity over time so that pregnant women will view them as desirable and essential.

Read A&T franchise model brief

Action plan

  • Train health facility staff, village health workers, and Women’s Union members to provide interpersonal counseling on infant and young child nutrition
  • Introduce the franchise model in public commune health centers in 2011 in 14 provinces
  • Launch in 2011 a communication strategy that includes franchise branding materials, print materials for clients, an interactive website, and a mass media campaign that promotes breastmilk as a product and generates demand for IYCF franchise services

By the end of the project in 2013, the aim is to have 1,000 franchises providing IYCF support. In lieu of the franchise model in ethnic minority areas, A&T will establish IYCF support groups modeled on Save the Children’s prior experience in Viet Nam.

 

Strategy 3. Fortified complementary foods and related products

With a vibrant and growing economy, the market in Viet Nam is flooded with infant foods, both locally produced and imported. A&T will work with the private sector to protect breastmilk and ensure access to micronutrient powders to reduce anemia.

Action plan

  • Conduct qualitative consumer assessment
  • Facilitate partnerships for micronutrient powders
  • Partner with commercial enterprises to implement workplace support program to promote and support exclusive breastfeeding

 

Strategy 4. Measurement, learning, and evaluation

A&T’s rigorous M&E system will measure different components of the program, their relative contribution to results, and the associated costs. The goal is to generate evidence for practical, feasible, and well-documented strategies that other implementers can follow.

Action plan

  • Work closely with the National Institute of Nutrition to track progress and measure results through annual surveillance surveys; analyze data and prepare provincial nutrition profiles
  • Collect data on staff skills, knowledge, facility quality, and client demand as part of process evaluation
  • Conduct a baseline survey in 2010 in 4,000 households and an endline survey in 2013

Read about our expected results