A healthcare organisation, West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN), is set to collaborate with National Hospital, Abuja, for the 2025 conference aimed at creating awareness through collaborative resources and work in synergy with the Federal Government to focus more on hospital malnutrition in Nigeria.
Cisca News reports that the conference will begin on the 16th and end on the 19th of June, 2025 and will be attended by some of the top healthcare professionals in Nigeria.
Some of the healthcare professionals set to collaborate with WASPEM include
physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, and nutritionists. It will also include the leadership from the medical professional bodies including governmental and non-governmental organizations; policy makers; food and pharmaceutical companies; researchers; and academic institutions to establish sustainability in combating hospital malnutrition.
The Founder and President of WASPEN, Dr Teresa Pounds, in her address, emphasized that the WASPEN 2025 Clinical Nutrition Conference is a landmark event that embodies a shared commitment to a well-nourished society.
She stated that WASPEN is a regionally focused organization committed to improving nutritional care across West Africa through clinical education, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
“WASPEN aims at creating a West-African society where malnutrition and its effects no longer exist. To build the shared vision, bringing together dietitians, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied professionals into a unified, interdisciplinary association with a focus on early and consistent nutrition screening and diagnosis; timely intervention in both hospital and community settings; and expanding access to nutrition support through specialization and routine.”
“WASPEN also funds and promotes research to drive innovation and evidence-based practices; the organization is leading a cross-sector collaboration to provide the knowledge and best practices needed to eliminate malnutrition across our region.”
“WAPEN collaboration also cuts across pharmaceutical companies abroad like Fitzin to provide affordable health products for malnutrition patients by establishing their source in Nigeria. Malnutrition in hospitalized patients could be fatal due to delayed responses to treatment, prolonged hospitalisation,high cost of treatment and others.”
“It is imperative to say that early identification could curb the impending danger of malnutrition that patients experience. Moreover, there is a need for the provision of support and resources to address hospital malnutrition.”
Dr. Pounds stated that the theme of the 2025 conference is “Bridging the Gap by Integrating Hospital and Community Malnutrition Care in Developing Countries”, meant to speak on the pressing reality, which is the disconnect between care delivery in hospitals and what is sustained in the communities.
“This gap costs lives, especially among the most vulnerable, which will enable a united response in the forthcoming conference. This year’s conference is exceptional for its depth of multidisciplinary representation, a collaborative team of combined healthcare professionals including leadership from professional bodies including the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Institute of Dietetics in Nigeria (IDN), and others.”
“Aside from being a professional event, the 2025 conference is also a cross-sector movement rooted in science, service, and impact. Highlights of the 3-day program oversee a 3-day course, where participants will experience keynotes and expert panels from across clinical, academic, and regulatory spheres; case studies; poster sessions; product showcases; and the inauguration of the Nutrition Steering Committee at National Hospital, Abuja.”
Leaders such as Prof. Muhammad Raji Mahmud, the host and CMD of National Hospital Abuja; Prof. Cyril Usifoh, the chairman of the ceremony; and Prof. Audu Bala will deliver the keynote on hospital-community care integration. Dr. Felix Alakaloko will speak on ‘showcasing the LUTH journey toward nutrition support excellence,’ and many more across all disciplines will give lectures on the prevailing topic, ‘ From artificial intelligence in clinical nutrition to local production and supply chain reforms’.
The health walk specifically created to enhance public awareness for nutrition as a human right will be observed on June 17th and themed “Nutrition is a Human Right: Let Every Step Count in Fighting Against Malnutrition”. This walk is said to be a public declaration — not just of solidarity, but of urgency to say malnutrition is preventable, and we believe the public has a right to understand, advocate for, and participate in nutrition solutions. The walk brings awareness to hospital malnutrition and energizes the ongoing campaign to make nutrition support a visible and well-funded priority.
Dr. Teresa noted that the statistical data for cases of hospital malnutrition in patients cannot be correctly ascertained but will be put into perspective during the oncoming conference with plans to carry out surveys through an appointed task force. She urged the media to continually spread the information of hospital malnutrition across the nation to increase awareness.
She also urged the Federal Government to take the lead in establishing a multi-sectoral national task force dedicated to the continued awareness, policy reform, and delivery of practical solutions to combat hospital malnutrition. WASPEN, she said, is committed to supporting this effort with evidence, expertise, and partnership, but it must be driven as a national priority with long-term sustainability in mind.
The CMD of the National Hospital, represented by Dr. Isiaka Lawal, the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), in his statements to the press revealed that a committee has been established to curb hospital malnutrition aside from partnership with WASPEN, and they are called the dietetics. He said with the WASPEN conference in place, sustainable measures on the ground will ultimately improve management of patients with malnutrition issues.
The LOC Chairperson, Clara Adesola, in a corresponding statement, applauded the effort of WASPEN’s collaboration with healthcare professionals across the nation to provide a platform where knowledge and best practices in clinical nutrition are shared, including the promoting of interdisciplinary collaboration. She said the event is poised to advocate for nutritional support for hospitalized patients in Nigeria. It is also worthy of note that patients who suffer malnutrition cut across all the ages, including pediatrics, middle-aged, and elderly, particularly, but with the accorded healthcare facility, there is a high chance of recovery; hence the need for an awareness campaign in the health institutions and the community at large as proffered by WASPEN and the collaborating agencies “she added.