Establish nutrition committees in hospitals –  Pounds tells FG

President and Founder of the West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN), Dr. Teresa Isichei Pounds, on Wednesday called on President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian government to establish dedicated nutrition committees within hospitals across the country

Dr. Pounds made the call during an online press conference serving  as a precursor to the forthcoming WASPEN Conference in collaboration with the National Hospital Abuja (NHA), titled, “Bridging the Gap: Integrating Hospital and Community Malnutrition Care in Developing Countries.”

He tasked the government, hospitals, healthcare organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and public-private partnerships to shift their focus toward malnutrition and implement comprehensive initiatives.

“We want NAFDAC to lend support and for pharmaceutical and nutrition companies to invest in making essential nutritional products readily accessible. Institutions must prioritize nutrition screening as a standard practice,” she asserted”, she said.

He added, ” The conference aims to address the persistent issue of hospital malnutrition that plagues health care facilities across the region.

“The main issue we aim to treat is the urgent necessity of addressing malnutrition in hospitals. This is a silent crisis—like a skeleton in the hospital closet—that must be brought to light”.

Dr. Pounds stressed the importance of collaboration among experts, researchers, and policymakers in the field of nutrition, emphasizing the far-reaching impact of malnutrition on both adults and children across Nigeria and West Africa.

Emphasized that the WASPEN collaboration is set to take place from June 17 to 19, 2025, at the Trauma Center of the National Hospital Abuja, she elaborated that patients suffering from malnutrition not only endure longer hospital stays but also face increased risks of complications, underscoring the need for comprehensive data to understand the extent of hospital malnutrition.

On the conference theme, she noted “We aim to demonstrate the significant gap between hospital and community malnutrition. Our insights from the LUTH conference last year served as a catalyst for this theme”.

Dr Isichel underscored the importance of recognizing hospital malnutrition as a pressing issue needing collective action, including the establishment of multidisciplinary committees for better patient screening to assess nutritional status.