| Doctor calls obesity surgery "single most powerful" health remedy - calls for more funding |
|
|
|
| Monday, 26 November 2007 | |
|
Speaking at the Gastroenterology Society's conference, Professor O'Brien said that weight loss cured or prevented many serious diseases, including cancers, diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnoea and joint problems. He said that, while attempts to control obesity through dieting and medication were unsuccessful for many morbidly obese patients, surgery was often the best option for the most severe patient cases. Professor O'Brien is regarded as one of the world's foremost experts in the area of weight loss surgery, and is a specialist in keyhole surgery for obesity, whereby an inflatable collar is placed around the patient's stomach, thereby decreasing its capacity and associated appetite. He said that the cost of performing such a medical procedure can be recovered by the public health budget within a year, due to the corresponding reduction in incidence of obesity related diseases. However, access to any weight-loss surgery remains extremely limited on the public purse in New Zealand, with the lapband technique even less common. The Health Ministry said that only 70 such procedures were publicly funded last year, although this was an increase on the previous year's figure of 63 procedures. Obesity Surgery Society president Robert Fris added that research in a number of countries had all shown weight loss surgery to be cost-effective, "so there is no reason why it shouldn't be cost-effective here". Ministry deputy director-general for funding, Margie Apa, responded by saying that surgery was "an extreme intervention" for the country's 50,000 morbidly obese and that the ministry's Healthy Eating - Healthy Action Strategy concentrated on preventing obesity through lifestyle changes including better diet and more exercise. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
