Dr Huang (second right) presents a souvenir to Dr Asri (second left) during the opening ceremony of the CMUH-Unimas Health Symposium 2026, as Wu (centre) looks on. – Photo by Aliah Abdullah
KUCHING (May 24): Medical experts and healthcare practitioners from diverse disciplines gathered at the second health symposium titled “The Metabolic Tsunami: Modern Strategies for Root-Cause Obesity Management”, jointly organised by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and China Medical University Hospital (CMUH), to address the growing obesity epidemic.
Unimas Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences dean Prof Dr Asri Said the half-day symposium reflected the university’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary discussions as well as the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in tackling obesity and metabolic diseases.
“Usually, programmes such as this are organised by industry players or single disciplines with the intention of furthering their own objectives,” he said.
“But if we want to talk about tackling obesity, it is about getting everyone from different disciplines together, which is why we have this platform where we bring in surgeons, nutritionists, psychologists and physicians to talk about obesity.”
Speaking after the opening ceremony of the CMUH-Unimas Health Symposium 2026 held at a hotel here yesterday, Dr Asri described obesity as a growing global health concern.
“Obesity is a growing epidemic, not only in Malaysia but around the world,” he said.
According to Dr Asri, more than 50 per cent of Malaysians are currently classified as overweight, while approximately 24 per cent fall within the obesity category, with a body mass index (BMI) exceeding 30.
“As mentioned earlier by Prof Dr Chih-Kun Huang, about five years ago Taiwan was also facing obesity issues.
“The number of obesity cases in Taiwan was very high, but they have successfully mitigated the problem, so we need to learn success stories from other countries,” he said.
Meanwhile, CMUH Taiwan International Center superintendent Prof Dr Chih-Kun Huang said the symposium demonstrated the strong partnership between CMUH and Unimas in advancing international academic and healthcare collaboration.
“I firmly believe that through this kind of sustainable exchange, innovative concepts and shared expertise, we can strengthen regional healthcare as well as improve the quality of life of communities across Asia,” he said.
Also present at the event was Ling-Ying Wu, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia.
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