The Foundation for the Rights of Citizens with Obesity: A Key Contributor to MEP's Study Trip on Obesity and Health System Resilience
#News
01 March 22
21-22 February 2022, representatives from the Foundation for the Rights of Citizens with Obesity was proud to co-host the Belgian leg of the 5-country MEP Interest Group on Obesity and Health System Resilience Study trip (France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Denmark). The main purpose of the Study Trip was to ascertain the multi-stakeholder expert opinions as to what are the needed components to enable implementation of the chronic disease continuum through the lens of obesity; namely early diagnosis and screening, treatment and long-term management.
Through interactive face-to-face workshops, all participants, including policy makers, researchers, clinicians and citizens and patients, were asked to think about the 10 main components that should be included in an EU-level NCD framework for obesity as a chronic disease, i.e. for early diagnosis, treatment and long-term management.
Bringing together all the ideas gathered in the national workshops, the MEP Interest Group secretariat drafted an outline of the key elements to be included and organised a vote with all stakeholders and contributors via an online plenary session that took place virtually on 1 March 2022
The key elements that were unanimously agreed were:
- Ensure underlying infrastructures that enable standardised guidelines, primary and secondary data capture and assessment across the life course.
- Mandatory integration of obesity as an NCD and obesity biology for medical education under the EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive.
- Specific education and training for primary care health professionals.
- Build funding mechanisms to enable resource availability and reimbursement for evidence-based treatment and management pathways.
- Enabling access to the full portfolio of appropriate treatment options.
Following the vote, the secretariat was able to finalise the joint statement and launch it on 4 March for World Obesity Day in Europe. The event was very well attended with 459 registered stakeholders, including key EU policy makers.