Thursday, March 25, 2010
Viet Nam: Nutrition rapid assessment report
his rapid assessment on the nutrition situation effected by Ketsana typhoon was conducted in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces under support from UNICEF and the National Institute of Nutrition.
In September, the Ketsana Typhoon slammed into the Midland and Highland area of Vietnam (from Quang Binh to Binh Dinh province) with a wind speed of 118 – 149 kph (kilometres per hour) and torrential rain. In addition, the heavy rain after this typhoon caused serious flooding. According to the latest report, the typhoon not only killed 163 people, and 14 persons still missing, and over 600 were injured, but also thousands of houses, public buildings and classrooms were destroyed. It influenced all aspects of society, the economy and life, especially the health of the people who live in affected areas. The most vulnerable groups in these areas are women, especially pregnant and the lactating women, and children under five.
After the typhoon, disease control activities and the collection of dead animals were rapidly carried out. In November 2009, 6 weeks after the typhoon, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) conducted the survey with support from UNICEF and the Nutrition Cluster in order to recommend timely and suitable nutritional interventions, tools and policies. For this, it was very necessary to address the consequences of the typhoon that influenced household food security and nutrition status of pregnant women, mothers and children under five.