Brasília – A report aired by Jornal Nacional on December 25 estimates that more than 6 million Brazilians currently need bariatric surgery to lose weight, underscoring a significant gap between demand and the capacity of Brazil’s public health system to provide the procedure. The data reflect the high prevalence of obesity in the country and structural limitations in access to surgical treatment.

According to the report, bariatric surgery is the only obesity treatment offered within the Unified Health System (SUS). While the number of procedures performed increased in 2024, reaching just over 5,000 surgeries, the volume declined again in 2025, indicating instability in service provision and persistent backlogs.

Brazil has approximately 120 SUS-accredited bariatric surgery centers, concentrated mainly in the South and Southeast regions. Access remains particularly limited in the North, which has only a small number of authorized centers, reinforcing regional disparities in obesity treatment.

Physicians interviewed by the program point to the absence of a national waiting list system for bariatric surgery, unlike the model used for organ transplants. Specialists argue that a centralized system could help organize demand and prioritize patients based on clinical criteria, as obesity continues to be classified by the World Health Organization as a global epidemic.

Source: G1 / Jornal Nacional