site.btaNGO Seeks Equal Access to Medical Foods in Home Care for Adult Patients

Dr Antoaneta Toncheva from the Community Bridges Association Sunday said that equal access to medical foods at home must be ensured for adult patients as well as children, as current regulations impose restrictions. The requirement that adults use a feeding tube to get medical food through the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) leads to inequality among patients, she said.

The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) hosted its Malnutrition Awareness Week on November 10-14.

The main cause of malnutrition is an underlying condition, such as cancer, a neurological or gastrointestinal disorder, while depression and loss of appetite can also contribute, the association said.

Earlier in the day, the NGO organized a conference for specialists and patients, who discussed medical foods, feeding tube supplies and parenteral nutrition.

The Community Bridges Association recalled that the NHIF has covered 12 types of medical foods for the treatment of malnutrition, fully funding only four of them, since May 2024.  

By the end of March 2025, 1,089 people with malnutrition had been registered in the National Health Information System (NHIS), Dr Toncheva said. The Health Insurance Fund covers medical foods for only a small number of these patients. In 2024, 419 people were diagnosed with malnutrition and entered in the NHIS, but the Fund paid for food for just 47 patients, of whom 40 were children.

A rapid and unintentional weight loss is the first sign of malnutrition, Dr Toncheva said. The health authorities should ensure adequate training for all medical professionals on malnutrition, so that timely action can be taken and patients receive the necessary care. Pediatricians, who see children regularly, are more likely to detect the problem. However, it proves more difficult in adults, who do not visit their general practitioners as consistently.

In addition to medical care, all patients with malnutrition, regardless of age, require psychological support, specialists stressed at the conference.