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Brunei Darussalam has made notable progress in advancing a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention. The country is now taking a landmark step in strengthening its national response to obesity, becoming the first WHO Member State globally to pilot the new WHO Course on Obesity Chronic Care through a primary health care (PHC) approach.
The pilot brings together primary care physicians, nurses and multidisciplinary teams for hands-on, evidence-based training designed to transform how obesity is prevented, diagnosed and managed within health systems.
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Participants and facilitators of the WHO Obesity Chronic Care pilot training in Brunei Darussalam
Obesity is recognized by WHO as a chronic, progressive and relapsing disease requiring long-term, coordinated care. With more than one billion people worldwide living with obesity and prevalence rising across all regions, countries are increasingly seeking practical ways to integrate obesity care into existing PHC systems. A first-of-its-kind course grounded in global evidence
The new WHO course applies the latest technical guidance, including the WHO Health Service Delivery Framework for Obesity, the WHO Technical Package to Stop Obesity and the WHO guideline on the use of GLP-1 therapy for the treatment of obesity in adults.
The curriculum blends:
- Chronic care principles
- Clinical management, including multimodal treatment and pharmacotherapy
- Intensive behavioural therapy
- Screening and management of obesity-related complications
- Referral and back-referral pathways
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A facilitator presents an overview of WHO’s evidence-based frameworks guiding the new obesity chronic care training
Designed as a train-the-trainer model, the course equips PHC teams not only to deliver services, but also to support scale-up within their own health systems.
This strong national leadership made the country an ideal setting for the course’s participatory development phase, in which WHO collaborates with local experts to tailor content to real-world clinic pathways, health system structures and patient needs. Recent national efforts to develop a shared vision for addressing obesity by bringing together policymakers, healthcare workers and people living with obesity have laid important groundwork for this pilot.
A focus on primary health care teams
Across a series of intensive modules, participants explore:
- Obesity pathophysiology and diagnosis
- Motivational interviewing and reducing weight stigma
- Case-based decision-making for multimodal treatment
- Integration of GLP-1 therapy within PHC settings
- Monitoring and follow-up for long-term care
- Designing clinic-level action plans
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Primary health care teams engaged in group-based exercises to map care pathways and strengthen coordinated obesity management
Reflecting on the importance of the training, Dr Alice Yong, Consultant Endocrinologist and Lead of Obesity Task Force for Brunei Darussalam, RIPAS Hospital, said:
“We hope this initiative will help us deliver care that is more coordinated, person-centred and consistent across all levels of the health system from community and primary care to tertiary services. By strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration, we can make obesity care more accessible and ensure that we are speaking with one unified voice in supporting our patients.”
Dr Siti Rosemawati Haji Md Yussof, Director of Health Promotion Centre, Ministry of Health Brunei Darussalam, highlighted the importance of strengthening service pathways:
“Through our school health screening programmes, we are seeing a growing number of children affected by overweight and obesity. While we continue to strengthen prevention policies, this training helps us think more systematically about how to support those already affected including clearer referral pathways and structured services at primary and tertiary levels. It is an important step forward for Brunei.”
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Facilitators support small-group discussions focused on multimodal treatment planning and patient-centred communication techniques
A key feature of the pilot is a behaviourally informed optimization and evaluation approach, using pre and post training assessments to tailor the course, measure capability and motivation and identify real-world implementation barriers faced by healthcare workers.
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Groups present challenges and solutions to clinical pathways following exercises and discussions throughout the training
Strengthening health systems for the long term
This pilot will generate insights to refine the course ahead of wider rollout in other WHO regions. It will also support the country’s ongoing efforts to integrate obesity prevention and management into PHC, strengthening workforce capacity and promoting more person-centred, stigma-free care.
A regional milestone with global impact
By leading this pilot, Brunei Darussalam is helping shape a global model for strengthening obesity care within existing health systems. Lessons learned from this initiative will support other Member States as they operationalize the WHO Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity and advance universal health coverage.
“This pilot shows that integrating obesity chronic care into primary health care is both achievable and impactful,” said Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO Representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. “The experience in Brunei Darussalam will help shape how WHO supports countries to strengthen long-term, people-centred obesity care.”
The country’s leadership demonstrates that early investment in PHC-based obesity care is both feasible and transformative, offering hope to millions worldwide who need long-term, compassionate and evidence-based support.