Dr. Vikram .R. Lotwala

The world is getting fat. In many countries, the proportion of people at an unhealthy weight has more than doubled in the past few decades. 1 Globally, at least 1.3 billion adults and more than 42 million children are overweight or obese. 2 The consequences are considerable. Excess weight increases the risk of a wide range of illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers; an estimated 2.6 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. Some epidemiologists believe that excess weight will soon rival tobacco as the world’s leading cause of preventable premature deaths—the obesity pandemic’s health effects may wipe out the gains in life expectancy achieved through decreasing smoking rates. 3 The obesity pandemic also has significant economic consequences. The World Health Organization estimates that in many developed countries, obesity now accounts for 2 percent to 7 percent of all health care spending. 4 Yet medical costs are ...

Here are excerpts from a fantastic article written by Dr. Ara Darzi in NEJM. There is a message in the article for all doctors and medical policy makers regarding medical insurance and policy making towards it. The message is very pertinent not only to western countries but India as well. "William Beveridge, the economist whose 1942 report led to the founding of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), famously said that “a revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching.” 1 Given the combination of the global downturn and the time bomb that is health insurance costs, there is no denying that health care in the United States has reached such a moment. This matter is too important to be left to the politicians and policymakers; there is an urgent requirement for professional clinicians to step up and lead the debate. Every country in the developed world confronts a similar challenge right now: finding a way to create a well-resourc...