By Esther Onyegbula

The West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN) has called for a multidisciplinary approach to tackling malnutrition in Nigeria, saying the challenge is too complex to be handled by one profession or sector alone.

President and Founder of WASPEN, Dr. Teresa Isichei Pounds, made the call at a press conference ahead of the 2026 Malnutrition Awareness Week, organised in collaboration with the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN).
Pounds, who spoke on the theme, “Nutrition is a Team Effort,” said tackling malnutrition required the combined expertise of physicians, nurses, dietitians and nutritionists, pharmacists, laboratory professionals, community health workers and other members of the healthcare team.

She said while Nigeria had made progress in strengthening its national nutrition agenda, there was a need to ensure that nutrition care extended beyond communities to hospitals, where patients could either arrive malnourished or become nutritionally depleted during illness.
According to her, “Malnutrition is often discussed in terms of food insecurity, children in the community, maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and micronutrient deficiencies. These are all critical areas.
“But malnutrition also occurs in the healthcare setting.
“A patient can enter a hospital already malnourished. Another may become nutritionally depleted during an illness. Others may have increased nutritional requirements because of surgery, infection, cancer, trauma or critical illness.”

She said nutrition should no longer be regarded as secondary to the condition that brought a patient to the hospital, stressing that proper nutrition was an essential component of quality healthcare.
“We believe it should not. If we are serious about improving health outcomes, nutrition must be recognised as part of patient care.
“Nutrition screening, assessment, intervention and monitoring should be considered alongside the other essential components of clinical management,” Pounds said.

The WASPEN founder also urged stakeholders to move away from viewing nutrition as the exclusive responsibility of a particular professional group.
“Teamwork does not mean that everyone performs the same function. It means that each professional brings their expertise to the same patient, with the same goal: better outcomes and better quality of care.
“We must therefore move away from seeing nutrition as the responsibility or territory of one professional group. The patient should remain at the centre,” she said.

Pounds disclosed that WASPEN had established or supported close to six multidisciplinary nutrition teams in various healthcare institutions across the country as part of efforts to strengthen nutrition care.
She said the initiative began in Lagos and was subsequently extended to Abuja and Asaba, with the organisation working with healthcare institutions through memoranda of understanding with their Chief Medical Directors.
“One of the things WASPEN does is focus on education. We do this through our annual conference, which moves from state to state.
“When we have these conferences, we make sure that we have a memorandum of understanding with the CMD of the institution. Through that understanding, we work and collaborate with the institution to ensure that it has a multidisciplinary team,” she said.

Pounds added that WASPEN was also part of the multidisciplinary teams and used webinars to connect healthcare professionals with international speakers and experts within Nigeria.
She explained that education remained a major component of the organisation’s intervention because healthcare professionals needed adequate nutrition knowledge to identify malnourished patients and provide appropriate care.

Pounds further disclosed that WASPEN was collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to address gaps in the availability and affordability of nutrition products.
“Identifying a malnourished patient is one thing; having the resources to care for that patient is another.
“We have identified gaps in the availability and affordability of nutrition products, and we are working to address those gaps,” she said.

She said the organisation’s interventions were informed by an understanding of the realities facing nutrition care in Nigeria, despite her residence in the United States.
“Although I live in the United States, I have a team right there in Nigeria, and I try to understand what is going on in the country because understanding the situation gives us the opportunity to identify where support is needed,” she said.

Also speaking, Chairman, Multidisciplinary Nutrition Steering Committee, Federal Medical Center Asaba, Dr. Justina N. Olajide, said the institution was preparing a series of activities to mark the 2026 Malnutrition Awareness Week.
Olajide said the activities, scheduled for September 21 to 25, would include media sensitisation, a flag-off ceremony, hospital outreaches, nutrition assessments, staff education, clinical presentations and a closing session.

She said the hospital would commence the campaign with television and radio appearances to create awareness about the programme.
“We are already making preparations. On Sunday, we are going to television and radio stations to create awareness and let people know that we are celebrating Malnutrition Awareness Week, which will run from Monday to Friday, September 21 to 25,” she said.

According to her, Monday’s flag-off would involve the Medical Director, Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, senior members of the administration, members of the nutrition steering committee and nurses selected for the outreaches.
She said Tuesday’s activities would include sensitisation of hospital staff and an assessment of their knowledge of malnutrition, while a webinar would also hold by 2 p.m.
Olajide added that the hospital would conduct BMI, height, weight and other anthropometric measurements on Wednesday to document findings on the prevalence of malnutrition among hospital staff and in other areas.

“On Thursday, we will make presentations to hospital staff on the importance of teamwork and the fact that nutrition care is a multidisciplinary activity. We want everyone to work together to fight malnutrition,” she said.
She added that the hospital was also preparing jingles, banners and T-shirts, while heads of departments were being engaged to sensitise them about the awareness week.

Pounds said WASPEN’s intervention was not restricted to hospital settings, noting that the organisation had also taken nutrition education to communities.
She cited the community outreach conducted in Ogwa Ukwu and Ahaba during the organisation’s 5th WASPEN Clinical Nutrition Conference in Asaba.

According to her, the outreach demonstrated the need to connect community nutrition programmes with hospital-based care.
“Nutrition belongs in the community, but it also belongs in our hospitals. The two should not be treated as separate conversations,” she said.
She said WASPEN’s 2026 Malnutrition Awareness Week would feature two major webinars aimed at translating awareness into practical action.

The first webinar, “Nutrition Care is a Team Effort: Defining Roles, Building Partnerships, Improving Outcomes,” will focus on professional collaboration, partnerships and the policy environment for stronger nutrition care.
The second, “From Screening to Recovery: The Multidisciplinary Nutrition Care Pathway in Practice,” will focus on the clinical pathway from screening and identification through assessment, intervention, monitoring and recovery.

Pounds called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to strengthen clinical nutrition as part of the country’s broader nutrition agenda.
She said, “Let us continue to strengthen nutrition in our communities. Let us protect mothers and children during the critical first 1,000 days. Let us address food and micronutrient insecurity.

“But let us also remember the patient in the hospital.”
She urged healthcare institutions to ask whether patients were being screened for nutritional risks and whether healthcare teams had the knowledge, resources and systems needed to respond.

Pounds said, “Malnutrition is too complex for one profession to solve. It is too important for one sector to own. And it is too serious for us to address only when it becomes severe.
“Nutrition is a team effort. It is a community responsibility. It is a healthcare responsibility. And ultimately, it is a national responsibility.”