Report Card on Access to Obesity Treatment for Adults in Canada
Posted:
2019-04-29
Obesity Canada has just released an updated 2019 report card on access to obesity treatments for adults in Canada. The report focuses on four key obesity management tools:
- specialists and interdisciplinary teams for behavioural intervention
- medically supervised weight-management programs with meal replacements
- anti-obesity medications
- bariatric surgery (1).
Major findings indicate that since the 2017 report there have been:
- no improvements in treatment
- obesity is still regarded as self-inflicted
- there are a lack of interdisciplinary teams to treat patients
- patients cover their own costs for weight management programs and foods
- obesity drugs are not covered in public programs
- there are no policies or guidelines to treat or manage obesity in Canada
- there are long wait times for bariatric surgery (1).
Five key recommendations are provided as follows:
- “Governments, employers and the health insurance industry should officially adopt the position of the Canadian Medical Association that obesity is a chronic disease and orient their approach/resources accordingly.
- Governments should recognize that weight bias and stigma are barriers to helping people with obesity and enshrine rights in provincial/territorial human rights codes, workplace regulations, healthcare systems and education.
- Governments should include anti-obesity medications, weight-management programs with meal replacement and other evidence-based products and programs in their provincial drug benefit plans.
- Employers should recognize and respond to obesity as a chronic disease and provide coverage for evidence-based obesity programs and Health Canada approved treatments for their employees through health benefit plans.
- Governments and health authorities should increase the availability of interdisciplinary teams and increase their capacity to provide evidence-based obesity management.”(1).
The PEN® Team will be reviewing the included evidence as it relates to existing content.
References
- Obesity Canada-Obésité Canada. Report Card on Access to Obesity Treatment for Adults in Canada 2019. April 2019. Available from: http://obesitycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OC-Report-Card-2019-Eng-F-web.pdf