Skopje, 4 March 2024 (MIA) – The country needs a national program for obesity prevention, said the president of the Scientific Association for Obesity-OBEM, Irfan Ahmeti on World Obesity Day, March 4. At a multidisciplinary panel discussion under the motto "Let's talk about obesity and..." which was held at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje on Monday, Ahmeti urged that apart from secondary and tertiary healthcare, obesity must also be included in primary healthcare.

North Macedonia has no registry of people suffering from obesity, and anyone who has sought help so far has been treated for other complications, with the initial diagnosis still not registered. Authorities hope that centers will soon get a registry for obesity patients, because it is assumed that 28 percent of the population lives with obesity.

"Not only secondary and tertiary healthcare, but together with the health policy, we should create a national program for obesity prevention, including the Ministry of Health that should urge for primary healthcare to also address obesity. According to data from the 'My Appointment' e-service system, 14,000 patients are registered under the E66 code [denoting obesity], or about 10 percent of the actual numbers. This is our first step, and the second step is to deal with, that is, manage, and openly talk about the disease," Ahmeti stressed.

He added that it is very important to raise awareness about obesity as a complex and chronic disease, which, if not recognized, can further lead to comorbidities, chronic complications and death.

"The figures, which are assumed, show that 28 percent of the population lives with obesity. Obesity is also on the rise among children and adolescents, around 30 percent are overfed and obese, Ahmeti said.

September 8 General Hospital doctor Taner Hasan noted that the number of adolescent patients, as well as young patients of up to 40 years of age, is increasing.

"This indicates that awareness is slowly starting to rise, which was not the case before, as everything we have done so far was aimed at reducing obesity complications. However, it was very difficult to break the sigma and accept obesity as a chronic and progressive disease that needs to be treated and cured," said Hasan.

Unfortunately, he added, the country has no registry of patients diagnosed with obesity, and primary diagnosis was not registered in patients who were treated for complications.

On a global scale, he added, there are about 200 diseases that are directly or indirectly related to obesity.ssh/ad/

Photo: MIA