Initial implementation supported by implementation research
Vietnam has implemented an MMS program as part of its antenatal care services since the 1990s. A significant reduction of central investment for the program in 2018 caused a shortage in supply and operational costs. Since then, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has distribution MMS to pregnant women in 85 of the “poorest districts” in 28 provinces across the country. The NIN is currently developing a new National Nutrition Strategy for 2021-2030, which provides an opportunity to incorporate new evidence-based nutrition interventions, like MMS, into the national strategy. In 2021, NIN, with support from Vitamin Angels, conducted a landscape analysis to map the context and extent of readiness for implementing an MMS intervention as part of antenatal care services in the country, and make recommendations about how to best make investments in order to effectively scale MMS in the Vietnam. Recommendations from the assessment include (i) adding MMS to the Vietnam essential medicine list, (ii) developing provincial nutrition action plans that include MMS, and (iii) developing a proposal for implementation research/piloting to inform the scale-up of MMS in Vietnam.
- Regions (Provinces/Districts): 29 provinces
- Start Date: 2018
- End Date: ongoing