The time is NOW – addressing severe acute malnutrition in Viet Nam

Ms. Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative (Photo: UNICEF)

SAM is the most lethal form of undernutrition, and one of the top threats to child survival. Around 1 in 5 deaths among children under 5 are attributed to this disease –globally, at least 13.6 million children under the age of 5 suffer from SAM. Tragically, a child in this condition is not a healthy child, making them more vulnerable to common illnesses. Evidence consistently shows that children with SAM are about 12 to 20 times more likely than a healthy child to die of common illnesses like pneumonia and diarrhea.

How is this possible when severe acute malnutrition can be treated? And that is the challenge that Viet Nam faces –how to introduce a practical, urgent solution to dramatically reduce the current 230,000 children in this country annually that suffer from severe acute malnutrition? That is 230,000 children who are at least 12 times more likely to die of common illness, let alone the cost to the health system as the affected children are hospitalized.  

It is treatable. It requires families with SAM children to have access to clinically formulated therapeutic products, which are approved by WHO and UNICEF. Globally, 25 countries – including Viet Nam’s neighbour Cambodia, have included therapeutic products for the treatment of SAM in their national List of Essential Medicines.

Photo: UNICEF

To ensure that every child who has SAM receives treatment, irrespective of their ethnicity or socioeconomic status, UNICEF urgently calls upon the Ministry of Health, the Government and the National Assembly to ensure that policies and laws, including the upcoming revision of Law on Medical Examination and Treatment: Recognize SAM as a disease; Identify approved therapeutic products available to treat SAM as medicines; And include treatment of SAM to be covered by health insurance.

By making these concrete policy changes, Viet Nam will dramatically reduce the burden of severe acute malnutrition. The solutions are simple and have been proven effective around the world. Now is the time for Viet Nam to take the needed actions to ensure all children survive, thrive and develop to their full potential. It’s time to get childhood back on track. And in doing so, Viet Nam will better implement its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ensure the achievement of relevant Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets set by Viet Nam, and be in accordance with 2016 Law on Children./.