WASPEN (West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition) is a professional organization dedicated to improving clinical nutrition care across West Africa through education, research, advocacy, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

WASPEN was founded in 2019 in Nigeria to promote excellence in clinical nutrition and improve patient outcomes throughout West Africa.

Our mission is to improve patient care by advancing clinical nutrition through education, research, advocacy, and evidence-based practice.

WASPEN serves healthcare professionals and institutions across West Africa, particularly within the ECOWAS region.

WASPEN brings together physicians, pharmacists, dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, physiotherapists, researchers, educators, and other healthcare professionals.

Healthcare professionals, healthcare students, researchers, educators, and individuals interested in clinical nutrition can apply for membership.

WASPEN offers Professional Membership, Student Membership, and Associate Membership.

Visit the Membership page, select your preferred membership category, complete the registration form, and follow the payment instructions.

Members gain access to educational resources, networking opportunities, conferences, webinars, research collaborations, and professional development programs.

Yes. Membership is renewed annually to ensure continued access to WASPEN benefits and activities.

Yes. WASPEN organizes scientific conferences, workshops, seminars, webinars, and other educational events throughout the year.

Healthcare professionals, students, researchers, educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in clinical nutrition are welcome to participate.

Participants of eligible WASPEN training programs and conferences receive certificates of participation or completion.

Registration is available through the official WASPEN website and conference Website  whenever an event is announced.

Yes. WASPEN provides webinars, virtual workshops, and other online educational resources to support continuous professional development.

WASPEN promotes policies that improve nutrition care, increase awareness of malnutrition, encourage routine nutrition screening, and strengthen healthcare systems.

Yes. WASPEN develops and shares evidence-based clinical guidelines, educational materials, and nutrition support resources.

WASPEN supports healthcare professionals through education, research, advocacy, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the development of nutrition best practices.

Yes. Healthcare institutions, universities, NGOs, government agencies, and corporate organizations are welcome to collaborate with WASPEN on education, research, and advocacy initiatives.

Educational materials, publications, downloads, announcements, and other resources are available through the Resources and Downloads sections of the WASPEN website.

Malnutrition is defined as a state resulting from a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein, and/or other nutrients that causes measurable adverse effects on body composition, function, and clinical outcome.

Medical nutrition is where healthcare professionals use medical food products to aid the nutritional management of a person who has a condition or disease. The person would be at threat of malnutrition if left untreated.

A Nutrition care program is used by healthcare professionals to take into account a patient’s needs, values and current situation to make decisions on the best course of action that is needed to ensure that the patient gets the right nutritional care.

Yes. Our academic programs follow approved standards and quality assurance processes.

The provision of nutrients — orally (supplements), enterally (tube feeding), or parenterally (IV) — given with therapeutic intent when a patient cannot meet their nutritional needs through normal diet alone. ASPEN typically uses the term specifically for enteral and parenteral nutrition, while "nutrition support" more broadly can include oral nutritional supplements too.

- Malnutrition is frequently under-recognized in hospitals unless actively screened for
- Validated tools (NRS-2002, MUST, MST, SGA) are quick and recommended within 24–48 hours of admission by ESPEN/ASPEN guidelines
- Identifies who needs intervention, and how urgently
- Unaddressed malnutrition is linked to more complications, longer stays, and higher mortality — so screening is the entry point to preventing those outcomes
- Provides a baseline for monitoring whether nutrition interventions are working over time

- Oral Nutritional Supplements (ONS) — ready-to-drink or powder supplements to boost oral intake
- Enteral formulas — polymeric (whole protein), semi-elemental/elemental (hydrolyzed, for impaired digestion), and disease-specific formulas (renal, diabetic, pulmonary, hepatic)
- Parenteral nutrition solutions — IV formulations of dextrose, amino acids, lipids, electrolytes, vitamins, and trace elements, either premixed or individually compounded
- Modular products — single-nutrient additives (protein powder, fiber, MCT oil) used to fortify feeds

Delivery of nutrients directly into a functioning GI tract via a feeding tube — nasogastric, nasojejunal, gastrostomy (PEG), or jejunostomy — used when a patient has a working gut but can't or shouldn't eat enough by mouth.

- Meet energy, protein, fluid, and micronutrient needs when oral intake is inadequate
- Prevent or correct malnutrition
- Preserve lean body mass and prevent muscle wasting
- Support immune function and wound healing
- Reduce infection rates, complications, length of stay, and mortality
- Maintain gut integrity (specific to EN)
- Support functional status and quality of life

- Preserves gut mucosal integrity — "if the gut works, use it" — reducing bacterial translocation risk
- Supports gut-associated immune function
- Lower infection/complication risk than parenteral nutrition
- More physiological, since nutrients pass through normal digestive pathways
- Lower cost, no central line required
- Early EN (within 24–48h) in critically ill patients is linked to better outcomes than delayed feeding

- Patients unable to meet roughly 50–60%+ of needs orally for an extended period (commonly ~5–7 days, shorter if already malnourished or critically ill)
- Dysphagia (e.g., stroke, neurological disease)
- Critically ill/ICU and ventilated patients
- GI conditions blocking oral intake (obstruction, severe malabsorption)
- Cancer patients, especially head/neck or GI cancers, or with cachexia
- Major surgery patients, particularly GI surgery
- Patients already flagged as malnourished or high-risk on screening
- Prolonged unconsciousness, severe burns, trauma, or sepsis

Intravenous delivery of nutrients — dextrose, amino acids, lipids, electrolytes, vitamins, trace elements — directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the GI tract entirely. Used when the gut is non-functional, inaccessible, or needs rest (bowel obstruction, short bowel syndrome, severe pancreatitis, high-output fistulas). Delivered peripherally (short-term, PPN) or centrally (long-term/higher concentration, TPN).

- Progressive loss of lean body mass and muscle wasting — including respiratory muscles, which can delay ventilator weaning
- Impaired immune function and higher infection rates
- Delayed wound healing, increased pressure ulcer risk
- Impaired cardiac, renal, and GI function
- Longer hospital stays and more complications
- Higher mortality, especially in critically ill, elderly, or cancer patients
- Reduced ability to tolerate surgery, chemotherapy, or other treatment
- In prolonged, severe cases: risk of refeeding syndrome once nutrition is reintroduced, or death from starvation itself

- Life-saving when the gut cannot be used at all
- Precise, controlled delivery of calories, protein, and micronutrients independent of GI function
- Bypasses absorption problems entirely — critical in severe malabsorption
- Allows bowel rest when clinically needed
- Fully meets nutritional needs even with zero oral/enteral intake
- Enables home parenteral nutrition for chronic intestinal failure, letting patients live outside hospital