A school milk program was launched nationwide on September 28, aiming at providing school-children with free milk to improve their health and physique.

Themed “School Milk - For Vietnam’s Stature”, a live television program connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the central province of Nghe An was held by Vietnam Television in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Health and Vietnamese milk giant TH Group.

The launching ceremony. Photo: bnews.vn

Speaking at the event, Politburo member and President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan called for immediate actions to lift Vietnam out of the list of countries with the shortest average heights.

He hailed the Vietnam Television and the Ministry of Education and Training for setting up the charity fund “School Milk - For Vietnam’s Stature” which facilitates pre-school and elementary children’s access to milk, and urged Vietnamese at home and abroad to make financial contributions to the fund.

The “School Milk - For Vietnam’s Stature” program, approved by the Prime Minister, targets feeding all pre-school children and elementary students in poor districts on milk by 2020, meeting 90-95 percent of their energy demand, and increasing the heights of school boys and girls by 1.5 and 2cm, respectively.

It also highlights regulations on the origin of milk material, the process of production, distribution and use.

The domestic dairy firm TH True Milk has committed VND 200 billion (USD 9 million) to the program from 2016-2021.

As many as 60 countries worldwide have responded to World School Milk Day launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Of them, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, the UK and Thailand use pure fresh milk.

Source: VNA