HÀ NỘI – The first e-learning courses on infant and young child feeding in Việt Nam were launched at a ceremony in Hà Nội on July 31 on the occasion of the 2017 World Breastfeeding Week (August 1 to 7).

The programme is a collaboration programme between Alive & Thrive (A&T), National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and E-learning Division, Information Network Centre of the Hà Nội University of Science and Technology.

Based on the health ministry’s Training Manual on Infant and Young Child Feeding, 20 electronic lessons on knowledge and counselling skills for infant and young child feeding have been developed with detailed lectures, illustrations and reference materials to disseminate fundamental knowledge on nutrition, and infant and young child feeding to all kinds of learners.

The course also aims to train and provide certificates on infant and young child feeding counselling for learners who study and work in the health sector nationwide. This e-learning system will allow leaners to complete the courses flexibly and proactively.

Under the A&T project course of 2010–2014, more than 1,000 Little Sun clinics were integrated into the public health system to provide infant and young child feeding counselling services. Each of these facilities needed at least two counsellors to be trained and certificated by the National Institute of Nutrition, especially for interpersonal counselling skills. However, after the project phased out, the training was temporarily stopped due to limited funding at localities.

“To ensure the operation of Little Sun clinics and the consultation ability of healthcare facilities about nutrition content in the country, a training programme with uniform content on infant and young child feeding is needed nationwide,” NIN Vice director Trương Tuyết Mai said at the ceremony.

“Online training courses on infant and young child feeding will meet the demand of majority of the learners, including doctors, health workers and mothers. It will help save time and expenses for learners and on supervision from teachers,” said Mai.

To know more about the e-learning course or to take the courses, learners may visit elearning.mattroibetho.vn or facebook.com/mattroibetho or download mobile app Nuôi dưỡng trẻ nhỏ E-learning. — VNS