– As Malnutrition Awareness Week commences on Monday 16
Ahead of the Malnutrition Awareness Week, an initiative of the West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN), the Founder, Dr Teresa Isichie Pounds, has urged all tiers of government to prioritise the growing issue of malnutrition within hospital settings.
Speaking at a virtual briefing at the weekend, heralding the 2024 WASPEN Malnutrition Awareness Week, set for 16 -20 September, Pounds emphasised the need for targeted interventions to address malnutrition among hospital patients, a concern often overlooked in favour of community-based nutrition initiatives.
Despite significant efforts to combat malnutrition and food insecurity across Nigeria, Pounds noted that malnutrition within hospitals remains a major, yet neglected, public health challenge.
Citing the World Health Organisation’s definition of malnutrition, she highlighted the gaps in current hospital care, where many facilities lack sufficient dietitians or structured systems to evaluate patients’ nutritional status.
“There’s a system gap,” Pounds said. “Most hospitals don’t have enough trained nutritionists to assess and treat malnutrition. Governments need to step up, providing the necessary resources and policy support to ensure that hospital patients undergo proper nutrition screening.”
She further highlighted the need for establishing nutritional committees in each federal government health institution across the country, which should be made up of multidisciplinary health professionals, and saddle with the responsibility of addressing clinical malnutrition in patients.
The nutritional support committees, she asserted should be led by physicians, including pharmacists, nurses, dietitians, and social workers. These committees would be responsible for educating hospital staff, assessing patients’ nutritional status, and providing appropriate nutritional interventions.
“Malnourished patients are at a higher risk of surgical complications, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs. By investing in hospital nutrition programmes, we can improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall burden on the healthcare system”, she explained.
WASPEN, a multidisciplinary organisation founded in 2019 to advance clinical nutrition in West Africa, is set to host the Malnutrition Awareness Week under the theme “Educate, Empower, and Eliminate.” The initiative seeks to educate healthcare workers and elevate the conversation around the need for better nutritional care in hospitals.
According to her, events for the week will run concurrently in four institutions across the country, including 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).
Activities for the week will include: Nutrition screenings and interventions, awareness and education campaigns, clinical webinars on malnutrition in healthcare, strategies for early detection and comprehensive management, panel discussions to educate, empower and eliminate malnutrition.
Two webinars have also been lined-up for the week, Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, for panel discussion on Advancing Nutrition Advocacy in Nigeria.
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