WHO RECOMMENDS WEIGHT LOSS JABS TO TREAT OBESITY AROUND THE WORLD
Weight loss drugs should be made available for the treatment of obesity across the globe, according to the World Health Organization.
It is the first time the health watchdog has issued guidance on the new jabs, which include products like Mounjaro and Wegovy, and is likely to lead to an explosion in their manufacture and use around the world.
The new guidelines, published today, recommend the Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs be used in combination with “intensive behavioural therapy” as a long term treatment for obesity lasting six months or more.
It defines obese adults as those with a BMI of 30 or more.
“Obesity is a major global health challenge that WHO is committed to addressing by supporting countries and people worldwide to control it,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“While medication alone won’t solve this global health crisis, GLP-1 therapies can help millions overcome obesity and reduce its associated harms.”
A paper published in the The Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) to coincide with the announcement added: “The advent of these medicines represents a tipping point in the treatment of obesity”.
The recommendation follows a detailed review of the scientific evidence led by Sir Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control at the WHO.
It found that although there remain questions over the long term efficacy of the drugs for weight loss, “decisive action” was needed now to prevent the number of people with obesity doubling to two billion by 2030.
In 2024, there were 3.7 million obesity-related deaths around the world, says the Jama paper, of which Sir Jeremy is an author.
“Global costs are predicted at US $3 trillion per year by 2030 and in a country with obesity prevalence rates of 30 per cent [like the UK], the disease could absorb up to 18 per cent of national health expenditure,” it added.
The cost of treating obesity is so high because it causes a wide range of complications including diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, musculoskeletal disorders and some cancers.
Health and welfare systems around the world are coming under huge strain as the number of people with obesity continues to climb.
In the UK alone, obesity is estimated to cost the NHS over £11.4 billion a year, with wider societal costs estimated at £74.3 billion annually due to ill health.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Sir Jeremy said the new class of GLP-1 weight loss drugs could prove “transformative” in fighting obesity.
He warned, however, that they should not be seen as a “magic bullet” and that they needed to be combined with changes to diet and exercise to be effective.
“If these are used in the right way, they’re accessible and affordable to those that really need it, and they’re not used in the wrong way, then yes, I believe this could be transformative to obesity,” he said.
The WHO’s guidance comes as the patents for the first generation of GPL-1 drugs reach the end of their term, raising the prospect of cheaper generic versions being manufactured across the world.
The patent for the weight loss drug semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) will expire in early 2026 in major markets like Canada, Brazil, and China, while the patent for liraglutide (Saxenda) has already expired.
The first tablet-based versions of the jabs are also expected to be licenced soon. Tablets are much easier to make, store, transport and take, greatly enhancing their scope for use across the globe.
But for the moment demand for the new GLP-1 drugs far outstrips supply and has already led to international disputes as well as domestic political tensions.
Earlier this year Donald Trump, the US President, caused international prices of the best known jabs to spike when he demanded lower US prices and, on the NHS in the UK, the drugs remain tightly rationed.
Although an estimated 2.5 million people are thought to be using the drugs in the UK – up seven fold over a year – the vast bulk of these purchases are made privately over the internet, many without the support of a doctor.
“Even under the highest predicted scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people,” says the Jama paper. “While significant, this number represents less than 10 per cent of people currently living with obesity.”
Sir Jeremy said the new WHO guideline was likely to “drive market change”, prompting health systems and drug companies to expand access to GLP-1 drugs around the world.
“You saw that in the early days of HIV, and we need to see that in drug interventions and diagnostic interventions for non communicable diseases more broadly,” he said.
The WHO described its recommendations for the use of GLP-1 drugs around the world as “conditional”.
They should not be used by pregnant women because of a lack of safety evidence and it was possible that “long term” data could yet emerge which raised questions over their efficacy and safety, it said.
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2025-12-01T13:50:40Z
