Health + Wellbeing Queensland Breakfast: Medication’s Role in Obesity Prevention

On 4 September 2024, MedSurg Weight Loss took part in a free breakfast session hosted by Health + Wellbeing Queensland — a leading health-promotion organisation focused on prevention of chronic disease and improved population wellbeing. The event explored how medications are shaping the treatment and prevention of obesity, with insights from academic, clinical and consumer perspectives.

With novel weight-loss medications increasingly available in Australia, it’s vital that healthcare professionals, public health advocates and individuals understand not just what’s on the market, but also how medications integrate with prevention, equity and long-term wellbeing.

The session brought together an expert panel offering diverse insights, including:

• Professor Clare Collins AO — NHMRC Leadership Research Fellow, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle (Moderator)
• Dr Catherine McDougall — Chief Medical Officer, Queensland Health
• Associate Professor Susie de Jersey — Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland
• Professor Lisa Nissen — Professorial Research Fellow, Centre for the Business and Economics of Healthy, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland
• Dr Paige Lanyon-Roberts — General Practitioner with Special Interest in Bariatric Medicine, MedSurg Weight Loss
• Danny Bruggemann — Consumer Representative

Each speaker contributed from their area of expertise — from health policy and clinical frameworks to economic and consumer viewpoints — providing an evidence-based, multifaceted understanding of current and future directions in obesity care.

Medication is only one piece of the clinical picture — effective weight management also includes supportive dietary advice, exercise physiology, psychological care and surgical options where appropriate. To explore how these fit together in personalised patient care, visit our Medical Weight Loss, Dietitian, Psychology and Exercise Physiology service pages.