Connecting the Dots: Obesity, Digestive Diseases and Cancers

On June 5, 2025, United European Gastroenterology (UEG) hosted the high-level policy event “Connecting the Dots: Obesity, Digestive Diseases and Cancers” at the European Parliament in Brussels. The meeting brought together policymakers, clinicians, researchers, patient advocates, and public-health leaders to address Europe’s growing obesity crisis and its link to digestive diseases and cancer. ELPA Director, Milan Mishkovikj, delivered a powerful speech during the panel discussion. Speaking from personal experience, he shared the story of his mother’s late-diagnosed liver disease to underscore the urgency of early screening and prevention. He affirmed: “We have the tools, the medications, the diagnostics… we need the collective will to make them accessible to everyone… behind every statistic is a human story… Together, we can make a profound, lifesaving change.” His heartfelt intervention emphasised that obesity and liver disease are deeply personal and societal issues—calling for dignity, integrated care, and urgent policy action. The event also officially relaunched the MEP Digestive Health Group, chaired by MEP Romana Jerković, signaling renewed parliamentary focus on prevention, socioeconomic health costs, and integrated treatment models. With Milan Mishkovikj’s participation, ELPA elevated the patient perspective within EU-level dialogue, championing: integrated prevention and care models beyond therapy alone, early liver-disease screening initiatives tied to obesity strategies, and access to diagnostics and treatments grounded in lived experience.