BAPEN News

 

BAPEN Endorses the Vienna Declaration

BAPEN is pleased to announce our endorsement of the International Declaration on the Human Right to Nutritional Care, otherwise known as the ‘Vienna Declaration’. Prepared by the International Working Group on the Human Right to Nutritional Care, the Declaration advocates for the recognition of the right to nutritional care as an intrinsic human right inseparable from the right to health and the right to food.

The Vienna Declaration reflects BAPEN’s aims and ambition to promote nutritional care and to support efforts against disease-related malnutrition. Standing alongside fellow endorsers, BAPEN embraces further support from each interested clinical nutrition, scientific and professional organisation, healthcare or non-healthcare professional organisation, or institution that defends the right to food, the right to health, and promotes nutritional care.

The following headline principles are outlined in the declaration:

• Public health policy must make the fulfilment of the right to nutritional care a fundamental axis in the fight against disease-related malnutrition
• Clinical nutrition education and research is a fundamental axis of the respect and the fulfilment of the right to nutritional care
• Ethical principles and values in clinical nutrition including justice and equity in nutritional care access are the basis for the right to nutritional care
• Nutritional care requires an institutional culture that follows ethical principles and values and an interdisciplinary approach
• Patient empowerment is a key enabler to necessary action to optimise nutritional care.

BAPEN President, Dr Trevor Smith, commented “BAPEN is proud to support the Vienna Declaration. Uniting alongside likeminded organisations from around the world not only demonstrates the calibre of support, but also showcases our collective conviction to invoke change and raise awareness of disease-related malnutrition and the increased focus needed on nutritional care rights and access.”

 

 

Have you read BAPEN’s latest reports?

UK Malnutrition Awareness Week report
In the Autumn, BAPEN's Malnutrition Action Group (MAG) produced a report which details the results from UK Malnutrition Awareness Week, October 2021.

The report titled ‘Survey of Malnutrition and Nutritional Care in Adults’ can be downloaded via the BAPEN website, here.

Report on UK Enteral Nutrition and Oral Nutritional Supplement Supply
Since the end of 2021, there has been anecdotal evidence of UK-wide supply issues of oral nutritional supplements (ONS), enteral feeds and ancillary products to support enteral feeding. This has caused considerable concern amongst dietitians and nutrition nurse specialists about the risks to patients’ nutritional care, health and wellbeing and ability to continue optimal nutritional treatments.

To help better understand the extent of supply issues and impact of these, the British Artificial Nutrition Survey (BANS) and the Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Group (PENG), on behalf of BAPEN, undertook a survey of UK healthcare professional experiences.

The results of the survey do, indeed, demonstrate that the UK has been experiencing significant ongoing issues with the supply of ONS, enteral feeds, gastrostomy tubes and essential ancillaries for patients requiring enteral feeding. Key representatives from BAPEN are using the findings to facilitate discussions with the British Specialist Nutrition Association, NHS England and the British Dietetic Association, with the hope of identifying steps to alleviate the disruption for end-users.

To view the report of the survey results, click here.

 

 

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