A different scale: Global action to address obesity

In 2021, obesity accounted for approximately 2.8 million deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, chronic respiratory diseases, and digestive disorders. Halting the rise in obesity is essential to combat the growing burden of NCDs and improve health and wellbeing for all. Stopping the growing obesity epidemic is one of the 2025 Global Nutrition Targets (for children under 5) and one of the Targets for NCD reduction (for adolescents and adults). Without addressing obesity, it is not going to be possible to achieve the 30% reduction of premature mortality from NCDs by 2030, one of the key targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, no country is on track to meet these targets and the costs of obesity and obesity-related diseases continue to rise.  Global costs are reaching US$ 990 billion per year, which accounts for over 13% of all healthcare expenditure. The global COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the urgency to act, revealing that people who suffer from obesity experience a four-fold increased risk of developing severe COVID-19. At the request of the World Health Assembly, WHO has provided updated recommendations for the prevention and management of obesity, as well as new intermediate and process targets, to better chart the way forward. The recommendations are now accompanied by a plan describing how to accelerate action to implement the recommendations, based on individual country needs and priorities. 

The Acceleration Plan identifies priority actions, describes how countries can act, how WHO and partners will advocate for action, how to engage partners and create a global mobilization and how to monitor progress. The plan aims to (a) increase the number of countries implementing effective policies to address prevention and management of obesity; (b) improve policy efficiency and coverage and expanded access to obesity prevention and management services; and (c) reverse the trend in obesity rates in a first group of committed frontrunner countries in the next few years.

Objectives of the event

The event aims to:

• Present the WHO Acceleration Plan to STOP Obesity, its key elements and expected impact.
• Hear the voice of countries and stakeholders, exploring their key wins, challenges and priorities in the fight against obesity as well as their ambitions for the acceleration plan.
• Inform the implementation of the acceleration plan by discussing controversial issues and proposed solutions to its success.