Embassy of Denmark, OPEN SEA and Novo Nordisk facilitated an open debate on obesity

The Embassy of Denmark in Singapore has concluded the 2nd annual meeting of the OPEN Southeast Asia (SEA) which it hosted in collaboration with the Obesity Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) SEA and Novo Nordisk.

Since the inaugural OPEN SEA meeting in 2021, two national networks have been launched in Malaysia and Singapore. The purpose of the networks is to drive conversations regarding the critical need to recognize obesity as a chronic disease.

Participants discussed the tangible steps to improve the landscape on wide-ranging areas for people living with obesity, including food systems, health literacy, primary care access and stigma, while taking reference from WHO recommendations on obesity.

The discussions leaned on past learnings from various countries in the region to identify effective ways to engage and raise the urgency of obesity with stakeholders, such as policymakers, clinicians and academia. These discussions will form the basis of OPEN SEA’s upcoming activities and culminate in a post-meeting report.

Globally, the obesity cause has reached an important milestone in 2022, through the approval of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on obesity. The new recommendations define obesity as a complex multifactorial non-communicable disease and emphasizes a holistic approach across diagnosis, treatment and long-term management, while strengthening existing preventive measures.

The Embassy thanked all participants and was grateful for the active participation of co-chairs Professor Brian Oldfield and Dr. Kwang Wei Tham.

Would you like to read more about this? https://obesityopen.org/?fbclid=IwAR1m-g7P_RBGEgZaDhg2dfuzxG2QTPFWnypJDPGGmAUWEYXiG5LKStzGSW8

Source: https://www.facebook.com/DKembassySG