Deputy Minister of Health: Necessity of integrating specialties and modern technologies in obesity treatment

Kuwait City, Nov 2 (KUNA) – Deputy Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Salman Khalifa Al-Sabah stressed today, Monday, the importance of leveraging the latest medical technologies and modern pharmacological treatments to achieve the highest safety standards in obesity care, noting that the obesity treatment pathway relies on a comprehensive plan that goes beyond surgical intervention.

These remarks were made by the Deputy Minister during his speech at the opening of the Fourth Kuwait Obesity Conference, under the theme “Medical and Surgical Advances in Obesity Treatment,” which runs for two days. The event is attended by a select group of surgeons, physicians, nutritionists, mental health specialists, and family medicine experts from within Kuwait and abroad.

Sheikh Dr. Salman Al-Sabah explained that the obesity treatment pathway does not begin in the operating room, nor does it end with discharge. Rather, it starts with a precise and comprehensive assessment of the patient’s condition, leading to the selection of the most appropriate treatment and long-term follow-up. He clarified that bariatric surgery represents a vital and suitable option for patients whose health conditions warrant it, while noting that modern pharmacological treatments, particularly those based on the GLP-1 pathway, have added new options to a comprehensive plan that integrates follow-up care, nutrition, and physical activity. The ultimate measure of success remains patient safety and sustained improvement.

He pointed out that estimates from the World Health Organization highlight the scale of shared responsibility, noting that one in seven people worldwide lives with obesity, with approximately 940 million adults affected, representing nearly 16 percent of the global adult population.

Deputy Minister Al-Sabah expressed his appreciation to the conference chairman, the organizing committees, and the conference organizers for their efforts in arranging this scientific forum, which discusses medical and surgical advances, training on modern surgical staplers, the safe use of medications, and dialogue on bariatric surgery standards and prescription guidelines.

For his part, Conference Chairman Dr. Shihab Kurov, in a similar address, stated that obesity treatment is a shared responsibility involving the integration of various medical specialties, including nutrition, internal medicine, family medicine, mental health, and surgery.

He explained that the Nutrition and Feeding Department has a monitoring program through which an annual report indicates that approximately 75 percent of Kuwait’s population suffers from overweight and obesity (30 percent among men and 35 percent among women). Dr. Kurov proposed launching a national campaign via the government’s unified electronic services application (“Sahel”) to collect height and weight indicators, accurately determine Body Mass Index (BMI), and map them geographically. This would contribute to redrawing the map of primary health centers and specialized clinics, thereby reducing expected future financial burdens.

Kurov praised the pioneering role of Deputy Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Salman Al-Sabah in establishing the first national registry for bariatric surgery cases in 2018, during his tenure as president of the Kuwait Surgical Society, which has since become a reference for scientific research and government hospitals. (End) M.N./H.S.S.