The Comprehensive Weight Management Symposium at Hong Ngoc General Hospital. (Photo: Hong Ngoc General Hospital)
Experts emphasised that obesity treatment requires multidisciplinary coordination, targeting not only weight loss but also comprehensive health management.
Comprehensive Weight Management Symposium: toward a shared goal beyond weight loss to comprehensive health management
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2022, approximately 2.5 billion adults worldwide were overweight, including nearly 890 million living with obesity. In Vietnam, nearly 20% of the population is estimated to be affected by overweight and obesity. These figures show that obesity is no longer merely an individual health concern, but has become a burden on the healthcare system.
Against this backdrop, on August 1, Hong Ngoc General Hospital organised the scientific symposium “Comprehensive Weight Management Symposium” with the participation of more than 100 doctors and experts in endocrinology, surgery, nutrition, psychology and rehabilitation.
Opening the symposium, Assoc. Prof. Do Trung Quan, MD, PhD, President of the Hanoi Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes, emphasised that obesity is a chronic disease with complex pathophysiological mechanisms, closely associated with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and multiple metabolic disorders. Therefore, it requires long-term management rather than a focus solely on weight loss.
Following this, Prof. Weu Wang, MD, a leading global expert in metabolic surgery, shared: “Over the past two decades, medical advances have helped reduce overall mortality from cardiovascular disease. However, cardiovascular deaths associated with overweight and obesity have increased by as much as 300%. This shows that obesity is not merely a matter of body weight, but a direct threat to cardiovascular health and life expectancy.”
In reality, obesity is not merely a matter of body weight. It can create a pathological cycle, serving as both a cause and a consequence of many chronic diseases. Therefore, the approach to treatment needs to shift toward a more comprehensive model of care.
Multimodal treatment: a modern trend in obesity management
According to Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Xuan Hung, MD, PhD, Head of the Surgical Division at Hong Ngoc General Hospital: “There is no single method that serves as the only solution for obesity. Medical treatment, nutrition, psychological support, physical activity and surgery each play a distinct role and complement one another to create a comprehensive and sustainable treatment protocol.”
In this spirit, the presentations at the symposium provided updates on recent advances in multidisciplinary treatment, reflecting the comprehensive approach currently being adopted by many obesity treatment centers worldwide.
In her presentation, “Pharmacotherapy for Obesity Management” Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Khoa Dieu Van, MD, PhD, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes, noted that new-generation anti-obesity medications have expanded treatment options for patients. However, these therapies are effective only when prescribed to appropriate candidates and combined with lifestyle modification.
Notably, two in-depth presentations, “Evolution of Bariatric Surgery to Metabolic Surgery” by Prof. Weu Wang, MD, and “Interventional and Surgical Management of Obesity Reported in Vietnam: An Overview of Evidence and Initial Outcomes” by Nguyen Thanh Tam, MD, PhD, Head of the General Surgery Department at Hong Ngoc General Hospital, provided updates on the real-world effectiveness of metabolic surgery. The two experts agreed that surgery is no longer merely a weight loss method, but a therapeutic approach for metabolic disorders that can help improve multiple comorbidities and should be performed only when properly indicated.
A highlight of the symposium was the analysis of six obesity cases that underwent metabolic surgery at Hong Ngoc General Hospital. All six cases discussed involved long-standing obesity accompanied by multiple comorbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and fatty liver disease, and the patients had experienced repeated failure with other weight loss approaches.
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| Hong Ngoc General Hospital successfully performs surgery for patients with obesity. (Photo: Hong Ngoc General Hospital) |
Through these real clinical cases, the experts affirmed that metabolic surgery is not a “standalone option” but one component within a broader obesity treatment strategy.
“The effectiveness of surgery is measured not only by the amount of weight lost, but also by the ability to maintain long-term outcomes, improve metabolic disorders and enhance quality of life. Therefore, patients need long-term follow-up and continued support after the intervention.” shared Nguyen Thanh Tam, MD, PhD, Head of the General Surgery Department at Hong Ngoc General Hospital.
Through the knowledge and practical experience shared by leading experts at the symposium, Hong Ngoc General Hospital is progressively refining a comprehensive, multimodal and individualized obesity management pathway, with the goal of achieving sustainable disease control, reducing obesity-related complications and improving patients’ quality of life./.