BSNA welcomes the signing of the 'Vienna Declaration' on nutritional care as a human right at the 2022 ESPEN Conference

BSNA has strongly welcome the signing of the 'Vienna Declaration' at this year's European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Conference. This is an important statement on the right to nutritional care as an intrinsic human right, endorsed by the four major international clinical nutrition societies, in conjunction with patient and dietitian groups and more than 70 societies.

This important statement on the right to nutritional care as an intrinsic human right embodies five key principles that cover fulfilment of the right to nutritional care, clinical nutrition education and research, ethical principles and values, institutional culture and patient empowerment, making it relevant to us all, whether we are involved in the design and delivery of nutritional care at policy, practice, industry, education or research level.

The Declaration is endorsed by ESPEN, the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), Federación Latino Americana de Terapia Nutricional (FELANPE) and the Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Society of Asia (PENSA), along with the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) and the European Federation of Associations of Dietitians (EFAD), and a global network of more than 70 national societies, who have all committed to promote and defend the recognition of nutritional care as a human right on behalf of all members of their societies.

It is hoped that the strength and breadth of the expert groups supporting the declaration will demonstrate the need for policy makers across governments and health systems to engage with the campaign, to secure the formal recognition of nutritional care as a human right.