Fed: Lap-bands should be cheap for extremely overweight: Experts

AAP General News (Australia)
08-29-2007
Fed: Lap-bands should be cheap for extremely overweight: Experts

Medical experts say severely obese Australians should have access to cheap lap-band
surgery .. to lengthen life and reduce the weight burden on the health system.

Specialists are urging the federal government to make Medicare rebates available for
the controversial stomach surgery .. after international studies confirmed it can cut
death rates.

Research from the US and Sweden released this week .. shows obese people who underwent
the procedure .. have a mortality rate up to 40 per cent lower than their bandless counterparts.

Public health specialists say mounting evidence supports making lap-band surgery more
widely and cheaply available .. for Australians with an extreme weight problem.

AAP RTV tam/imc/tm

KEYWORD: BANDING (SYDNEY)

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