However,after five years of implementation, the plan has encountered obstacles inachieving effectiveness.
Accordingto the plan’s chief co-ordinator, Dam Quoc Chinh, few activities have beencarried out nationwide due to an ongoing lack of funds and some changes inhuman resources of sectors and ministries which are taking part in the plan.
Themobilisation of social resources to carry out the plan also faces manydifficulties, he said. A lack of comprehensive co-operation between central andlocal authorities has hindered the process of the plan’s implementation, Chinh added.
Tocarry out the project effectively, stability of key personnel and funds shouldbe ensured, and co-ordination between ministries, sectors and localities shouldbe improved, he said.
Knownas master-plan 641 and approved by the then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in2011, the programme aims to improve the quality of the labour workforce andVietnamese people’s life expectancy.
Themaster plan consists of various components and is being conducted nationwide,mainly benefiting pregnant women, infants, pupils and students.
Withtotal investment capital of roughly 6 trillion VND (269 million USD), the 641scheme will be among the most important goals of the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism in the future.
Theproject will be implemented via four major programmes including identifyingfactors influencing Vietnamese people’s height growth; nutrition care combinedwith relevant population quality activities; boosting physical education forstudents aged 13-18, and raising common awareness of Vietnamese physicalfitness and stature development. Pregnant mothers, infants, children and theunder-18 youth will be among the scheme’s top beneficiaries.
Oneof the scheme’s specific targets is to raise the average height of Vietnamesemen to 167cm by 2020 and 168.5cm by 2030. The target heights for women are156cm by 2020 and 157.5cm by 2030.
Todate, the programme has surveyed the health and actual physical development forstudents of 2,446 schools across the countries.-VNA