Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko reminded of the importance of the fight against obesity in his speech at the Man and Medicine congress. According to him, the ideology of «toxic body positivity» denies the link between obesity and poor health, but overweight patients need help, including both pharmaceutical and other methods. The minister’s words were quoted by TASS.
«The ideology of toxic body positivity, which denies or prefers not to notice the link between obesity and health, is harmful primarily for the population, as obese people have a much shorter life expectancy», — said the head of the Ministry of Health.
He called for a thorough examination of obese people during regular medical checkups. He explained that being overweight is one of the key risk factors for 40% of non-communicable diseases. At the same time, Murashko praised the Russian pharmaceutical industry. He said that domestic manufacturers are expanding their product range, covering a significant part of healthcare needs.
During a trip to North Ossetia last year, Murashko said that about 40 million people in Russia are obese. The head of the Ministry of Health noted that obesity leads to the development of many other health problems, including type 2 diabetes and arterial hypertension.
Earlier, the Russian company Geropharm, which launched the country’s first generic version of Ozempic, urged the authorities to stop the TV show Big Girls. The program about losing weight, shown both on TV and on the Premier online cinema, uses ineffective and even dangerous weight control methods, the drugmaker believes.
