ENHA - Optimal Nutritional Care for All (2024)

Ensuring good health and well-being for EU citizens involves protecting their nutritional status and ensuring they have access to quality nutritional care.

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Objectives

ENHA members and partners are key European professional societies, associations and patients groups in public health and health care. They work together to:

• Promote and implement nutrition risk screening and optimal nutritional care across Europe
• Create public awareness of malnutrition/undernutrition
• Share good practices and create innovation
• Improve education and training in nutritional care.

Activities

European Parliament engagement

Since 2007, ENHA works with the European Parliament to include nutritional risk screening and good nutritional care in EU programmes. ENHA and members actively participate(d) in

• ‘Together for Health’ 2008
• European Partnership Action Against Cancer 2010
• European Innovation Partnership ‘Active and Healthy Ageing’ 2012
• MaNuEl: Malnutrition in the Elderly 2014
• PROMISS: Prevention of malnutrition in Senior Subjects in the EU 2016
• Collaborating with EU officials on Europe’s Beating Cancer plan including hosting the event EU4Nutrition LIVE (2020)
• EU Health Policy Platform ‘Integrated Nutrition Cancer Care’ 2021-2022
• Horizon Europe Research Project “HealthyW8” 2022-2027

The new Optimal Nutritional Care for All campaign logo

The Optimal Nutritional Care for All campaign

Though the European Union is more and more dedicated to improve healthcare, member states are primarily responsible for their healthcare systems and financing. Therefore, ENHA designed the Optimal Nutritional Care for All campaign that was launched in 2014.

In this campaign, ENHA supports 20 European countries to establish/strengthen national multi-stakeholder platforms to implement nutritional screening and improve nutritional care. In a number of countries, the national platforms work with the Ministry of Health. The 20 country delegations meet at least twice a year to update the state of play, exchange good practices, and work on innovation projects.

A growing number of ‘ONCA countries’ have joined the ONCA Malnutrition Awareness Weeks, supported by ONCA. In 2023, 15 ONCA countries are expected to host their national Malnutrition Awareness Week. Although each week has its own timing, objective, scope and programme, they share the aim of driving optimal nutritional care implementation and the connection with the ONCA campaign.

The Optimal Nutritional Care for All campaign

Visit the campaign page and read and share Good Practices

View the campaign

The ONCA Malnutrition Awareness Weeks

Visit the page for information on past and upcoming weeks

More information

European patient groups

In 2012 ENHA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with European Patient Forum (EPF) and the European Genetic Alliance (EGAN). EPF and EGAN are fully engaged in the Optimal Nutritional Care for All activities. National patient group representatives participate in the country delegations.

ENHA partners

ENHA is chaired by Professor Olle Ljungqvist, representing the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN)

• European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN)
• European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD)
• European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS)
• European Patient Forum (EPF)
• European Medical Students Association (EMSA)
• Association Internationale de la Mutualité (AIM mutual health insurers)
• United European Gastroenterology (UEG)
• The European Ageing Network (EAN)
• European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE)
• European Nursing Directors Association (ENDA)
• International Association Geriatrics and Gerontology (IAGG)
• European Genetic Alliance

Funding

ENHA partners pay an annual fee to fund core activities. Annual fee levels are determined according to the status e.g. non-profit making, and the resources of the partner. The Alliance also accepts unrestricted, project-specific funding from corporate and non-profit organisations.

Governance

Stichting European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA) is a non-profit foundation incorporated and registered in The Netherlands. Its income and property are solely for promoting the aims and objectives of the organisation.

Board Directors are not appointed for a fixed term of office and may continue as long as they respect the obligations of the role, for example regularly attending meetings. Board Directors are not remunerated for their time, but may request the reimbursem*nt of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses related to Board Director activities.

Partners of ENHA are non-profit organisations in the field of health and nutrition and commercial organisations in the field of nutrition, which support and implement ENHA policies, but do not participate in decision making.

The individual interests of the directors are:

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