By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) will set up a ‘National Obesity Centre’ next year, to address the country’s over-weight problem in an inclusive manner, a senior HMC official said yesterday.
The centre will be located within the Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City, said Dr Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, Chairman of Medicine at Hamad Medical Corporation, yesterday on the sidelines of Specialist Certification in Obesity Professional Education (SCOPE) event being held in Doha.
Obesity is one of Qatar’s pressing non-communicable health concerns, with 33 percent of the population diagnosed as obese.
The ‘National Obesity Centre’ will bring together all outpatient clinics at the Hamad General Hospital dealing with lifestyle management including the bariatric surgery clinic. The centre will be part of a comprehensive Metabolic Institute, which would open in another five years, said Dr Abou-Samra.
“The National Obesity Centre we are creating will be set up at the Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City within a year. It will Involve physicians with different specialties and have multi disciplinary approach to obesity,” he said. “This will be part of a Metabolic Institute which will be initially a virtual set up, then we want to have a building in the upcoming Nutritious Hospital may be in five years,” he added.
SCOPE brought together healthcare professionals from across the globe to Doha to explore latest strategies for managing obese patients at its training symposium. The event was hosted by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) and HMC.
The two-day event at Qatar National Convention Centre featured speakers from leading international medical institutions. It discussed latest clinical practices for identifying, managing and treating obesity and associated conditions, such as diabetes.
Topics covered the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease, impaired lung and kidney function, fertility problems, sleep apnea, diabetes and mental health issues, among others. Dr Shahrad Taheri, Professor of Medicine at WCMC-Q, said: “The event aimed to equip healthcare professionals in the region with up-to-date and effective skills and knowledge for managing patients with obesity. By working to put in place the best possible strategies, we can make real improvements to the health of people with obesity, helping protect them from developing other debilitating conditions and maximising their quality of life.”
Delegates earned credits towards SCOPE certification, which is the only internationally-recognised obesity management certification scheme. SCOPE is endorsed by the UK National Health Service and over 50 national health associations worldwide.
The Peninsula
