Dietitians defend tube feeding reimbursement

This Wednesday, the Order of Dietitians defended the reimbursement of tube feedings in outpatient settings after receiving favorable support from all political parties during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday.

“The Order of Dietitians advocates the reimbursement of enteral and parenteral nutrition in outpatient settings as a way to combat malnutrition and its health and economic consequences for the country,” the statement said.

According to President Liliana Santos, mentioned in the statement, “there is an urgent need to materialize this contribution” in order to “make health care accessible to the entire population, without marginalizing citizens with fewer resources or creating unequal conditions.”

“The Order of Dietitians considers it appropriate to send a strong signal of commitment to international best practice by placing itself close to the approval of the fullest possible Diploma and also believing that now is the right time for this purpose,” he said. basic moments .

The organization states that with “increasing prevalence of malnutrition and patient numbers, it is critical to improve available nutritional care by providing early and effective nutritional intervention for patients at nutritional risk or suffering from malnutrition.”

“Malnutrition is a contributing cause of hospital readmissions, with associated costs to healthcare and the sustainability of the NHS. Nutritional care is a right that must be recognized urgently and responsibly, integrated as part of treatment and established therapy,” he notes.

On Tuesday, all political parties spoke out in favor of reimbursing the cost of nutritional supplements for people with Crohn’s disease.

The basis of the debate in Parliament was the petition for reimbursement of the cost of the Modulen IBD complete diet powder for people with Crohn’s disease, which was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on November 21, 2022 and received 10,510 signatures.