AFINS Hospital Nutrition Project

September 2010 Trip 010The Abbott Fund Institute of Nutrition Science (AFINS) Hospital Nutrition Project

Duration: 2009 – 2013

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Donor: The Abbott Fund

Partners:

  • National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam
  • Ministry of Health, Vietnam
  • Bach Mai Hospital
  • Hanoi Medical University

Overview: While rates of malnutrition, particularly for children, have declined over the past two decades in Vietnam, challenges still remain in improving nutritional status for the overall population. The clinical nutrition needs of hospitalized patients remain a critical issue for health outcomes improvement and a promising focal area for the Ministry of Health (MOH) to address nutritional challenges. Despite support from the MOH, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) of Vietnam  has been unable to meet the needs of hospital professionals in providing guidelines and training to implement clinical nutrition best practices.

To address this problem, the Collaborative and the Abbott Fund are partnering with the MOH and the NIN to advance clinical nutrition in Vietnam through the establishment of the Abbott Fund Institute of Nutrition Science (AFINS) – a partnership with Boston University, the National Institute of Nutrition and Bach Mai Hospital and officially inaugurated in March 2010. The project builds on prior Abbott Fund-supported initiatives to increase access to health and improve the nutritional status of people in Vietnam, coupled with BUFMGHC’s extensive record of building and improving primary health care systems in the area.

Objectives:

  • Identify needs and potential areas of research and evaluation
  • Conduct a clinical nutrition study to determine areas for improvement
  • Improve Internet and computer technologies for disseminating continuing medical education (CME) for providers in nutrition
  • Develop educational module for implementation of nutritional guidelines
  • Assess needs of eight hospitals and their departments of nutrition
  • Finalize development of MSc program in clinical nutrition at Hanoi Medical University

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Check out the AFINS Inauguration Photo Gallery!