Treatment of morbid obesity cost more than €1.8 million last year

Ireland has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe, according to the Health Service Executive, with 60% of adults and one in five children or young people overweight or obese.

Gastric bypasses and other surgeries carried out in public hospitals for the treatment of morbid obesity cost more than €1.8 million last year, as 171 patients went under the knife to surgically limit their food intake.

The figures represent a 77% increase in the cost of such procedures in just five years, while the number of people receiving surgical treatment for obesity in public hospitals has risen by 58% in the same period.

The operations, which cost an average of €10,745 each last year, are designed to encourage weight loss by surgically altering the digestion process or by reducing the size of a patient’s stomach.

The procedures, collectively known as bariatric surgery, include gastric bypasses, which redirect food away from some parts of the stomach and small intestine so that the body absorbs fewer calories.

They also include gastric banding, in which a band is placed around the upper part of the stomach to reduce its capacity so the patient feels full after eating small quantities of food.

Other interventions include gastric balloons, which are temporarily placed in the stomach and inflated to take up space and thereby physically limit the volume of food that can be consumed.

Procedures for the treatment of morbid obesity are performed almost exclusively in two public hospitals: St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, and University Hospital Galway (UHG). Some services are provided at the South Infirmary in Cork.

Ireland has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe, according to the Health Service Executive (HSE) website, with 60% of adults and one in five children or young people overweight or obese.

A total of 178 patients were on the waiting list for bariatric surgery at the end of February 2022, 53 of whom had been waiting for longer than a year.

“The Obesity National Clinical Programme is working to ensure individuals with overweight and obesity have access to prevention, early identification, and treatment services to prevent progression of this disease and its complications,” said a spokesman for the HSE.

“Treatments for obesity should focus on disease management and health improvements rather than weight loss alone. These include behavioural changes, medications, and bariatric surgery, and depend on the complexity of the disease.

“Bariatric surgery is a highly effective and cost-efficient treatment for severe and complex obesity,” the spokesman said.