Historias

In conjunction with the Word Obesity Day 2023, the Petaling Health Department has organised a webinar on Bariatric Surgery: Changing the Narrative on the 3rd of March 2023¬. The objectives of the webinar were to highlight the role of metabolic and bariatric surgery, to educate primary care professionals on the approach to obesity counselling and assessment as well as to guide on the appropriate bariatric surgery referrals and continuation of care. The webinar was moderated by Dr Ariff Fahmi, a Family Medicine Specialist and Word Obesity Federation SCOPE certified professional. The speaker was Dr Mohammad Shukri, Senior Consultant Upper Gastro-Intestinal Surgeon and Head of Surgical Department at National Cancer Institute, Malaysia. The webinar was attended by more than 300 healthcare professionals in the Ministry of Health consisting of physicians, dietitians, nutritionist, and pharmacists. Dr Ariff started the webinar by highlighting the importance of obesity treatment for non-communicable disease prevention and treatment. He also alluded several misperceptions towards bariatric surgery in the public domain and among the healthcare professionals. A case was also presented to help participants appreciate the role of bariatric surgery in patient with obesity and diabetes. Dr Mohammad Shukri is an experienced surgeons with years of experience in bariatric surgery with special interest in nutrition. He is the President of Malaysia’s Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Society of Malaysia (PENSMA). He delivered a very informative and concise presentation on the science of adiposity, its impact on health, the assessment of obesity, body composition analysis as well as the metabolic and bariatric surgery services led by him. Being the only bariatric referral centre in the Ministry of Health for Klang Valley, he offered an in-depth insight in term of assessment and preparing patients for bariatric surgery. He put great emphasis on behaviour and nutritional therapy as well as exercise prior to surgery and after the surgery to help patients live healthy and meaningful lives. The participants really enjoyed the webinar as several questions were discussed towards the end of the session. The issue of access to bariatric surgery from financial perspective was also discussed. The value of weight loss for healthy lives was illustrated. As the webinar concluded, the participants were grateful of the discussion and were all in agreement that a change in narrative for bariatric surgery is long overdue. Addressing obesity in Malaysia will require everyone’s effort. As such, a webinar like this could be a steppingstone for healthcare professionals to be confident and efficacious in discussing obesity treatment for persons living with obesity