President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama; Minister of Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh; Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea; and Founder and President of the West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN) Corporation, Dr. Teresa Isichei Pounds, are expected to lead healthcare stakeholders at the inauguration of WASPEN’s Ghana Chapter in Accra on November 11, 2026.
The conference, scheduled to commence at 8:00 a.m. GMT at Arc Hall, Accra, will focus on strengthening multidisciplinary clinical nutrition care and addressing hospital malnutrition in Ghana and across the West African region.
The event will be held under the theme, “Nutrition Care is a Team Effort: Strengthening Multi-Disciplinary Nutrition Care in Ghana.” President Mahama is expected to attend as Special Guest of Honour, while Akandoh will deliver the keynote address. Prof. Akoriyea will serve as Event Chairman, with Dr. Pounds convening the conference.
In a statement issued on Monday, the organisers said the conference would bring together policymakers, healthcare professionals, researchers, academics and industry leaders to develop collaborative strategies for improving clinical nutrition practice and strengthening healthcare delivery in Ghana and beyond.
Discussions will cover specialised nutritional support, patient recovery from acute illnesses, metabolic therapies, patient safety, health policy integration and institutional capacity building. Participants will also examine resource constraints, policy barriers and gaps in specialised clinical training that hinder the effective delivery of nutrition-related interventions.
The initiative seeks to tackle hospital malnutrition, a major healthcare challenge associated with prolonged hospital stays, increased complications, higher treatment costs and elevated risks of morbidity and mortality.
According to the organisers, the conference will promote a shift from isolated treatment approaches to proactive nutritional and metabolic management, encouraging healthcare professionals across different disciplines to work together to improve patient outcomes.
A key objective is to strengthen multidisciplinary nutrition care teams involving intensive care unit (ICU) doctors and nurses, clinical nutritionists, clinical pharmacists and radiologists. The approach is expected to improve coordination in patient management, accelerate recovery and enhance the quality of hospital care.
Dr. Pounds described the inauguration of the Ghana Chapter as a significant milestone in WASPEN’s efforts to expand evidence-based clinical nutrition practices across West Africa and, ultimately, the African continent.
“I am deeply thrilled to see WASPEN expanding its footprint with the launch of the Ghana Chapter,” she said. “Conferences like this are essential to revolutionising clinical practice, and this is just the beginning. We are committed to bringing this initiative across the entire African continent to ensure every patient receives world-class, multidisciplinary nutritional care.”
She noted that several interventions aimed at addressing malnutrition were already being implemented across Africa but faced challenges in reaching more people, emphasising the need for stronger collaboration and coordinated platforms to close existing gaps.
Ahead of the conference, keynote speaker Akandoh stressed the importance of making Africa’s healthcare and food systems more nutrition-sensitive to improve public health outcomes.
He called for specialised clinical nutrition to be integrated into routine hospital practices and public health policies, noting that a healthy and productive population was essential to national development.
The minister also highlighted the need to expand equitable health insurance coverage as part of efforts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). He said policy reforms, public advocacy and innovative financing strategies were critical to extending insurance coverage and improving access to essential healthcare services.
The organisers said participants would examine how national health insurance frameworks could better accommodate specialised metabolic support and clinical nutrition services, while identifying policy priorities for improving healthcare financing and access across the region.
“We hope that government, policymakers, regulators, and practitioners in the health ecosystem will use these social policy actions to set priorities for increasing health insurance coverage and address inadequacies to accelerate the drive towards the attainment of UHC by 2030,” Akandoh said.
Prof. Akoriyea is expected to highlight efforts to integrate specialised nutrition care into national healthcare standards and strengthen institutional collaboration in service delivery.
The Ghana Chapter’s institutional leadership includes the host, Dr. (Med) Leslie Issa Adam-Zakariah, Medical Director of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital; co-host, Dr. (Med) Christian Owoo, Director of the Medical Training and Simulation Centre at the University of Ghana Medical Centre; and Dr. (Pharm) Jennifer Boateng, Coordinator of the WASPEN Ghana Chapter.
Dr. Adam-Zakariah expressed the hospital’s readiness to collaborate with WASPEN in advancing healthcare delivery, specialised clinical nutrition, institutional capacity building and other mutually beneficial initiatives. He reaffirmed the hospital’s commitment to working with the society to improve patient care across Ghana.
The conference will feature technical discussions, professional training, research presentations and interactive workshops aimed at strengthening clinical capacity and establishing practical approaches for implementing multidisciplinary nutrition care teams in hospitals.
To sustain the initiative, WASPEN is mobilising three specialised national working groups: the Advocacy and Cost Group, the Research and Survey Group, and the Product Group. The groups are expected to support policy advocacy, research, cost considerations and the development of practical solutions to improve clinical nutrition services.
A major highlight will be the presentation of a survey examining factors contributing to hospital malnutrition in Africa, with particular emphasis on findings from West Africa.
Participants will also explore the integration of formal nutrition and metabolic support rotations into medical, pharmacy and nursing university curricula to strengthen professional training and align clinical education with international standards.
Other dignitaries expected at the conference include the President of the Ghana Medical Association, Prof. Ernest Yorke; President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Pharm. Paul Owusu Donkor; President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Mrs. Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo; and President of the Ghana Academy of Nutritionists and Dietitians, Rev. Prince Baidoo.
Also expected are Mrs. Olivia Mawunyo Timpo, Deputy Director of the Nutrition Department at the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service; Miss Ruby Arthur, Chief Dietitian at the Ghana Health Service Headquarters; Dr. Eva Mensah, Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services at the Ghana Health Service; Dr. Dominic Korsah, Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Ghana Health Service; Pharm. Saviour Yevutsey, Director of Pharmaceutical Services at Ghana’s Ministry of Health; Dr. (Med) Yakubu Adams, Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; and Dr. Yaw Adu, Chief Executive Officer of Danadams Pharmaceutical and President of the Association of Ghana Industries.
Healthcare leaders from Nigeria and other countries are also expected to participate, underscoring the conference’s regional and international significance.
The organisers said the key findings, technical consensus and strategic resolutions reached at the conference would be compiled into an official policy communiqué for presentation to the government. The document is expected to provide recommendations for national health policy implementation, legislative advocacy and the standardisation of clinical nutrition practices.
Founded in 2019 in collaboration with the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), WASPEN promotes evidence-based clinical nutrition practices and seeks to standardise professional training across West Africa.
The organisers have invited healthcare practitioners, academics, researchers, policymakers, students and members of the public to participate in the conference and contribute to discussions on improving nutrition care and patient outcomes.
Interested participants can visit www.waspen.org for registration, membership information and further enquiries.
