Focus on checking food groups consumed a lot during Tet and festivals

Accordingly, the Minister of Health requested the Department of Food Safety to advise the Central Steering Committee on Food Safety to direct localities and competent agencies in closely inspecting, checking, and monitoring to ensure food safety before, during, and after Tet.

The Ministry of Health requests the Department of Health of provinces and cities, the Department of Food Safety of Ho Chi Minh City, the Food Safety Management Board of Da Nang City, and the Food Safety Management Board of Bac Ninh Province to advise the local Interdisciplinary Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene to deploy the Plan to ensure food safety for the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival season 2024.

In addition, coordinate with relevant departments, agencies and sectors to promote propaganda and dissemination of regulations and knowledge on food safety to raise awareness and consciousness of the community in ensuring food safety through various forms and appropriate media; mobilize the whole society to participate in preventing and combating the production and trading of fake and poor quality food.

Localities should strengthen inter-sectoral inspections to ensure food safety before, during and after Tet, focusing on high-risk product groups consumed during Tet and festivals; promptly detect and strictly handle violations, and commend organizations, individuals, and food production and trading establishments that are safe for the community.

The Department of Preventive Medicine regularly and closely monitors the domestic and international epidemic situation; promptly reports to the Ministry of Health and competent authorities on epidemic developments, and advises on solutions to prevent, contain, and control the spread of the epidemic.

Direct units and localities to strengthen the implementation of measures to ensure disease prevention and control; especially for respiratory diseases, dangerous and emerging infectious diseases; monitor, supervise, and promptly detect cases of disease at border gates, in the community and at medical facilities to promptly and thoroughly handle infectious disease outbreaks, not allowing them to spread widely and cause prolonged outbreaks in the community.

At the same time, strengthen communication measures in disease prevention and control and vaccinate children at the right age; consolidate, organize training and drills, and be ready to deploy rapid response teams for disease prevention and control; develop plans and reserve enough medicines, supplies, chemicals, equipment and means to ensure meeting requirements in disease prevention and control.

The Department of Preventive Medicine directs the Institutes of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Pasteur Institutes, and provincial and municipal disease control centers to develop and deploy plans and scenarios for disease prevention and control during Tet; improve the capacity of rapid response teams to promptly respond, and avoid being passive or surprised by disease situations.

At the same time, organize inspection teams to supervise preventive medical units in implementing disease prevention and control measures and vaccination according to regulations.

Previously, the Standing Committee of the Central Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on Food Safety issued a Plan to ensure food safety for the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival 2024 to inspect and examine food safety in food production, processing, trading and use; strengthen control and promptly prevent the production and trading of fake and poor-quality food; ensure consumer rights; and prevent food poisoning.

The Central Steering Committee requires localities to control and ensure food safety before, during and after the Lunar New Year and the 2024 Spring Festival season, especially products/product groups used a lot during the Lunar New Year and festivals such as: meat and meat products, beer, wine, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, cakes, jams, candies, vegetables, tubers, fruits, food additives... and food service establishments; promptly detect, prevent and handle violations of food safety, control and prevent food poisoning, especially mass poisoning, alcohol poisoning due to methanol...