Dr. Pounds Urges Focus on Clinical Nutrition in Nigeria

Dr. Teresa Isichei Pounds, the President and Founder of the West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN), advocated for increased attention to clinical nutrition within Nigeria's healthcare system at a press conference on Tuesday. This event announced the 2026 Malnutrition Awareness Week, organized in collaboration with the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN).

The campaign, themed “Nutrition is a Team Effort,” aims to promote a coordinated approach to tackling malnutrition in communities and healthcare facilities. Dr. Pounds praised the Federal Government's initiatives, including the Nutrition 774 Initiative and the National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026–2035.

She emphasized the necessity for nutrition care to extend beyond food security and maternal health to include hospitalized patients. Dr. Pounds stressed that nutrition screening and intervention should be integral to clinical management and called for improved multidisciplinary nutrition care structures in health facilities, alongside routine identification of patients at nutritional risk.