VietNamNet Bridge - In a report from the Government to the latest National Assembly session, there is a special detail: It is not a burning matter of the day but an urgent problem for the Vietnamese.

The detail is "expanding the school milk project." Why it is considered a "special detail" in the government report, which consists of many important and urgent issues?

If today it is not mentioned, then 10, 20, or 40 years later the Vietnamese will still have a sad record in the global arena: the world's shortest people.

In just 40 years, Japan has raised the average height of its people by 10cm, reaching 172cm for men and 157cm for women. In 1945, Japanese men and women were only 1.59m and 1.49m tall.

One of the most important "panaceas" for the leap in height of the Japanese was the plan called "a glass of milk to power a nation" in the daily diet of Japanese youth.

In Thailand, after seven years of implementation of the school milk project, the height of Thai children has increased by nearly 5cm. Meanwhile, in the past 15 years, Vietnamese height has increased just 1.5 cm.

The White Revolution (fresh milk revolution) in India brought 1 liter of milk daily for even the poorest people and it greatly contributed to increasing the average height of Indians to a proud level: men 1.73m, women 1.65m.

In Vietnam, the school milk project was launched by the Vietnam Livestock Institute 12 years ago but it failed because of many reasons.

Dr Nguyen Dang Vang, chairman of the Vietnam Livestock Association, said the project was submitted to President Tran Duc Luong in 2003. After two hours listening to the report on the school milk program, President Luong instructed to implement the project soon, to stimulate and develop future generations.

However, the program was only on paper. It is odd that the Vietnam Livestock Institute then reported that the original project was lost after the computer that kept the project was attacked by bugs.

Last September, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam attended the launching ceremony of the program to develop the height of Vietnamese people, which was named “Join hands for the height of the Vietnamese”.

At the ceremony, the two officials praised the school milk program, saying that this is important nutritious foundation to raise the height of the Vietnamese people.

Also at the ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien pointed out the urgency of the project for the improvement of the height of Vietnamese people.

However, nearly a year after that ceremony, the project launched by the Ministry of Health has not been implemented.

Can the "special detail" on school milk program in the government report to the National Assembly help shorten the bumpy road to realize the project?

The Ho Chi Minh Highway, the 500KV power transmission line, and other major infrastructure projects would have not been completed if the government did not have a minimum vision of 20, 30, or 50 years.

"Over 50 countries have implemented the school milk program. The sports sector has a scheme to enhance the stature of the Vietnamese but we do not say anything about the provision of milk to children," said Professor Le Viet Ly, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Association.

Le Ha