New business for treatment of obesity in Denmark
Global Health Partner is starting a business for the treatment of obesity in Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark. The business is one of three private businesses in Denmark that have received accreditation from the Danish National Board of Health for this type of care. The doctors’ office business starts in September and the surgical unit in November. “We see great opportunities for this business and are very happy to now be able to offer highly specialised obesity surgery in Denmark together with two of the Nordic countries’ best surgeons in this area,” says Per Båtelson, Global Health Partner’s CEO.
Bariatric Center Copenhagen will run its business in the Center For Rygkirurgi’s premises in Hellerup in Copenhagen and in Odense. The company is joint-owned by Global Health Partner, the Center For Rygkirurgi and the two surgeons Göran Lundegårdh and Mikael Støckel. Global Health Partner’s share is 51%.
The number of obesity operations in Denmark during 2010 amounts to approximately 5,000. The majority of the operations are performed under private management, and waiting times within the public health sector amount to approximately 2 years. By way of comparison, the number of operations in Sweden amounts to just over 5,000 per year. The need in both countries is considerably greater than this: 12-15% of the Danish population are estimated to have a so-called BMI (Body Mass Index, the relationship between height and weight) of over 30, which is classified as obesity.
The prevalence of obesity is taking on epidemic proportions all over the Western world. WHO estimates that close to 150 million people suffer from obesity in Europe. These people usually develop different types of co-morbidities such as diabetes type II, hypertension and infertility. Both the excessive weight as well as the co-morbidities cause great patient suffering and result in high health care costs. Studies show that the only successful treatment for patients with obesity is surgery.
Global Health Partner has clinics for the treatment of obesity in Stockholm, Lund, Bergen, Birmingham, Cairo, Helsinki, Prague and Ajman (United Arab Emirates).
8 September 2010
Gothenburg, Sweden
Global Health Partner AB (publ)
Queries should be addressed to:
Per Båtelson, CEO, phone 46 705 95 57 00
Anna Ahlberg, Head of Investor Relations, phone 46 708 55 38 35
Global Health Partner is an internationally active healthcare provider that operates specialist clinics in a select number of treatment areas through the application of a business model that is unique in the healthcare industry, where leading doctors become partners and shareholders. Multiple clinics with high patient volumes within the same area of treatment produce increased efficiency and higher quality, which is the cornerstone of Global Health Partner's business philosophy – ”Quality through Specialisation”. Global Health Partner’s shares are traded on the Small Cap list at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under the abbreviation “GHP.”
Global Health Partner AB (publ) | www.globalhealthpartner.com
Corp. ID No. 556757-1103 | Östra Hamngatan 26-28 | SE-411 09 Gothenburg | Sweden
Tel 46-31 712 53 00 | Fax 46-31 313 13 21
This is a translation of the Swedish version of the press release. When in doubt, the Swedish wording prevails.