National Recommendations for the Development of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in the Republic of Kazakhstan: A Review and Consensus Statement

Obesity and metabolic disease require a coordinated national response in Kazakhstan. The SBMSK StatementWorking Group developed 60 consensus recommendations to strengthen access to safe, evidence-informed metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). International IFSO/ASMBS guidance and contemporary literature informed a national process that addressed patient selection, multidisciplinary care, procedure selection, complication prevention, long-term follow-up, workforce development, accreditation, financing, and registry participation. The recommendations preserve the evidence level and recommendation grade ratified by the Working Group and contextualize their implementation within Kazakhstan’s health system. This consensus statement proposes a staged national MBS pathway that centers patient safety, lifelong nutritional and clinical follow-up, multidisciplinary service delivery, quality assurance, and outcomes reporting. It also identifies priorities requiring formal national regulation, investment, research, and prospective registry evaluation.