Obesity surgery would save public: AMA
By Catherine Best
Taxpayer funded weight-loss surgery for obese Australians would save the health system money in the long run but is not the focus of the Australian Medical Association's (AMA) obesity campaign. AMA national president Rosanna Capolingua played down media reports the Victorian branch has lodged a submission asking for free lap-band surgery for obese people as young as 14. The Victorian AMA has lodged the submission with the state government calling for more public funded lap-band surgery - which constricts the stomach to reduce hunger. But the AMA said the submission was targeted at adults and did not foreshadow a national campaign to fund obese people going under the knife to shed kilos. The 2008-09 budget submission calls for an extra 3,000 obesity-related operations to be funded at five Victorian public hospitals over the next three years, at a cost of $40.5 million. AMA Victoria president Douglas Travis said currently only about 30 to 40 public patients underwent the procedure in the state each year. "The reason they don't get in is because people don't see it as an emergency priority," Dr Travis said. "I would imagine there would be thousands of people who would notionally qualify (for expanded surgery)." Bariatric, or lap-band, surgery costs about $10,000 but that outlay could be recouped within two years in saved medication costs associated with weight-related disease, Dr Travis said. "It's cheaper to stop these people being obese than it is to wait for them to become diabetic and hypertensive." Dr Travis said the surgery was not targeted at teenagers, and adults in the 20 to 40-year age group would derive the most benefit from the procedure. However, it was difficult to impose an age barrier as surgery was always a last resort and patients were judged on a case by case basis, he said. Dr Capolingua said she was unaware of any similar AMA submissions in other state jurisdictions. The fact children as young as 14 were seeking lap-band surgery was a "wake up" call to Australians, she said. The AMA's policy was foremost on education and awareness, including promoting better food labelling, nutrition and exercise, and bans on junk food advertising during kids programs. "We really have to marshall up the whole repertoire of public awareness and engagement and shift this tide of obesity," Dr Capolingua said. Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has not ruled out funding free weight loss surgery for obese teenagers. However, she said surgery was targeted at the morbidly obese and was not an alternative to regular exercise and healthy eating. "This is just one proposal for one treatment for those, particularly the morbidly obese, not for a general strategy about ensuring people are not overweight." Brought to you by AAP
Last update : Monday, 14 January 2008
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