Following a number of deaths and near-deaths in recent years among people who have undergone bariatric surgery to treat severe obesity by reducing the size of their stomachs, the Health Ministry has issued new directives to better regulate the procedures.
Prof. Arnon Afek, the head of the ministry’s medical administration, wrote – in a document aimed at all relevant authorities – that Israel is one of 10 countries in the world with a significant increase in obesity. It has multiplied three-fold in the past 30 years, he said.
