The West African Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN) an innovative multidisciplinary organisation, focused on uniting dieticians, physicians, pharmacists and nurses on advancing clinical nutrition in Nigeria, is set to hold its 2024 Annual Malnutrition Awareness Week, from 16 to 20 September, at four unique locations for the week-long advocacy.
The four venues for the great event are: Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH); Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH); Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency; and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH).
The Convener of the programme, Dr Teresa Pounds, in a chat with Pharmanewsonline, emphasised the objective of the week, noting that it is a movement to educate, impact and eliminate malnutrition in all its forms across hospital settings.
Originally launched by ASPEN, she disclosed that the initiative will among other things highlight critical need for early interventions in malnutrition, providing essential education to healthcare professionals and ensuring adequate care for adults and paediatric populations.
“I’m particular about nutrition support for hospitalised patients, who cannot eat the way normal people eat, who have to be fed artificially, or force-feed. So that is the specialised nutrition support I’m talking about.
“For this to be effectively done, we need to have a system in place to assess the nutrition status of patients immediately they are admitted into hospitals, decide on the type of nutrition they need, and make the products available and affordable for them. That is the vision that birthed WASPEN conference”, she revealed.
The WASPEN Convener also mentioned other side attractions of the programme to include: Nutrition screenings and interventions, awareness and education campaigns, clinical webinars on malnutrition in healthcare, strategies for early detection and comprehensive management, roundtable discussions to educate, empower and eliminate malnutrition. She particularly noted that the roundtable on Advancing Nutrition Advocacy, will hold on Thursday, 19 September, 2024.
For more information about the programme, you can reach the Project Director on: 08106907691 or email: tevinkleinwaspen.org
