Cancun International Declaration on the right to nutrition in hospitals: a decade after

Abstract

On the 20th of May 2008 within the XI Congress of the Latin American Federation of Clinical Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy and Metabolism (FELANPE) in Cancun, Mexico, the presidents and associations of Clinical Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy of Latin America and the Caribbean, subscribed “The Declaration
of Cancun on the human right to receive timely and optimal nutritional therapy.”
FELANPE has maintained this resolution over the years, highlighting the importance that a patient receives nutritional and food care which help him to overcome the disease, preserving his or her quality of life, and that is why it has supported widespread knowledge on this field with the objective being
that healthcare professionals are duly trained in the prevention and treatment of patient mal nutrition.
To accomplish this goal it is fundamental to implement a Unified Nutritional Hospital Protocol in Latin American hospitals, which includes evaluation and nutritional diagnosis of the patient on admission, food care services, required nutritional support and the role of the nutritional support team.
It is important to also include the Clinical Nutrition course in the medical, nursing, chemistry and pharmaceutical schools, so as to raise awareness to future professionals on the importance of nutritional diagnosis and treatment, because you can´t treat what is not diagnosed.