The 13 Principles of the Cartagena Declaration

Abstract

The Cartagena Declaration recognizes that nutritional care is a human right. To make this human right effective, the Declaration provides a coherent framework of thirteen principles which provide a structure for promoting the development of nutritional care in the clinical setting, allowing all sick people to receive nutritional therapy in dignified conditions. The Declaration, through its principles, may also serve as an instrument to promote, through governments, the formulation of policies and laws in the field of clinical nutrition. The general framework of principles can contribute to raising awareness about the magnitude of this problem and to promote cooperation networks among Latin-American countries. Thus, the Cartagena Declaration should be considered a framework document whose principles constitute the basis for promoting the development of nutritional care in the clinical field, and raising awareness among public authorities, academic bodies, and the pharmaceutical industry.

This article presents the definition, context, scope, perspective and some key concepts for each of the principles.