Economics of Obesity and Metabolic Health Summit 2026 — Prevention, treatment and equity of access — is a one-day, cross-sector summit hosted by Economist Impact at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place, with a VIP networking reception the evening before.
Obesity is one of the fastest-growing and most costly public-health crises of our time. The global cost of obesity and metabolic disorders — including direct healthcare costs and lost productivity — is projected to exceed $4 trillion annually by 2035. The summit brings together policymakers, public-health experts, clinicians, advocacy groups, people living with obesity and metabolic disorders, scientists, pharmaceutical executives, weight-management and lifestyle providers, technology developers and investors to debate the economics of obesity and how to improve global health.
The last decade has seen transformations in obesity and metabolic health management — GLP-1 medications, surgical breakthroughs, weight-management clinics, and AI-driven care delivery. This summit asks: how can governments and health leaders afford to prevent and manage obesity at scale, and how can investment in obesity reduction unlock gains for diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease?
Schedule
- Tuesday 9 June 2026 · 17:00–18:00 CEST — VIP networking reception (shared with the Economist's World Cancer Series Europe).
- Wednesday 10 June 2026 — Full day of plenary sessions, panels and networking across 20+ sessions with 60+ expert speakers.
Programme tracks
- Policy, systems and prevention
- Treatment innovation (GLP-1s, bariatric surgery, digital therapeutics)
- Equity of access and weight stigma
- Economics, financing and the workforce case
Venue
Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place · Rue Auguste Orts 3-7 / Grand Place, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Who attends
128+ attendees from across the EU and globally — policymakers, MEPs, clinicians, patient advocates, pharma & MedTech leaders, investors and HTA bodies.
