On September 4, 2026, Ms.Eri Yoshimura, Senior Manager at Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), spoke at the symposium “From Patient to Lived Experience Expert” during the International Congress on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (ICOMES), an international scientific congress hosted by the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO). She delivered a presentation titled “Integrating Patient Voices into Obesity Policy: The Experience of HGPI.”

In this session, she described the current state of obesity policy in Japan and HGPI’s policy advocacy, which has centered on the voices of people living with obesity. She was joined on stage by Dr. Yoo-hyun Kim (Representative, Healthy Together Social Cooperative (an organization of people living with obesity); Family Physician; Board Member, KSSO), a person living with obesity, and Ian Patton (Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement, Obesity Canada). The session was the first in KSSO’s history to feature people with lived experience.

Further details on the session are available in an article by Medipana, a Korean medical news outlet:

HGPI will continue working to advance obesity policy in Japan and around the world.