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With a trebling of incidence since 1975, the World Health Organization estimates that most of the world’s population now live in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight. The Australian Burden of Disease Study highlights obesity as the second largest risk for fatal disease and largest risk for non‐fatal disease over the past 15 years.

While death rates have been mitigated by a 35% increase in cardiovascular medicine prescriptions and a doubling of diabetes management therapies, our ability to successfully maintain this approach is likely to be overrun as Australian obesity rates climb to over 40% within a decade. Aside from the individual health impact, obesity creates significant community cost implications — direct costs are estimated to be $5.4 billion and indirect costs a further $6.4 billion per year in Australia. Prevention would be ideal but current strategies have not been successful at scale. Yet precious little resources are allocated for specialist treatment of obesity, including surgery, in our public hospitals.

This MJA perspective shares more.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain key components of the perspective
2. List main findings
3. Recognise the importance of defining value-based selection criteria and standardising care pathways combining all forms of obesity treatment to provide specialist bariatric care across the public health system.

Details

Author: Ahmad Aly, Michael L Talbot and Wendy A Brown

Article Type: Perspective