STOP malnutrition of patients and diseases resulting from malnutrition
The Czech Presidency assumed the auspices over the international seminar “Stop malnutrition of patients and diseases resulting from malnutrition” held on 11 – 12 June.
At the same time, the Presidency called upon leading EU experts in the area of health-care and health policy to address the issue of poor nutrition in health-care institutions and adopt relevant measures for preventing threats to quality of life, unnecessary mortality and morbidity in the EU.
Malnutrition does not kill patients directly but it can contribute toward complications that lead to their death. This happens in cases where health professionals focus their maximum attention on the main diagnosis and attempt to contain it (hip replacement, removal of a tumour, treatment of an infectious disease). Malnutrition remains unnoticed and undiagnosed particularly in patients with limited locomotive faculties or psychiatric or communication problems. Although the main ailment may be treated correctly, the underestimation of malnutrition leads to a devaluation of the effect (often of a costly treatment), to the inability to rehabilitate effectively; and a decrease of muscular tissue and physical fitness occurs.
In Europe the issue of malnutrition concerns more than 30 million citizens. Most malnourished persons live in private households, particularly elder citizens. 10% of citizens over 65 years of age are exposed to the risk of malnutrition, approximately 40% of them are patients admitted to health-care institutions; in the case of clients in home care the reported number is 60%.
Recent data from Great Britain indicates that approximately 3 million people are afflicted with malnutrition. Costs for treatment of diseases resulting from malnutrition and their complications reach 15 billion euros. In the EU the approximate amount is 170 billion euros. The treatment itself increases the need for health-care in hospitals (longer hospitalisation, infection-related complications) as well as outpatient care.
As professor of surgery Olle Ljungqvist stated in his contribution, prevention of malnutrition can save up to 1,000 euros per 1 hospitalised patient.
Representatives of the European Commission, experts from international companies specialising in the issue of patient nutrition and representatives of companies specialising in care for seniors and issues related to ageing presented their experiences and new approaches to the monitoring of the nutritional state of patients, developments in the area of food preparation as well as new technologies and methods.
The Czech Republic as the country holding the Presidency introduced the activities of the Czech Association for Clinical Nourishment and Intensive Metabolic Care. Thus it offered a possibility to prepare meals for patients with the use of current technology and at the same time to assess and implement these experiences and methods in hospital and outpatient care.
Another important contribution of the seminar was the introduction of the activities of the newly-established Working Group for Nutrition that devises the Action Plan for Fighting Malnutrition.
The Czech Presidency thus enriches its range of accompanying events by including another highly important topic that will also be addressed at European level. The European Commission, and particularly the Swedish Presidency, urge continued solutions to this serious topic. The conference, inter alia, follows up on the Prague appeal from 2007 for fighting malnutrition in Europe and the recommendations of the European Parliament relating to nutrition.
Contact:
- Andrea Mimrová, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health
- Tel.: +420 224 972 424, GSM: +420 737 204 961, E-mail: [email protected]
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:18
