A view shows The World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Denis Balibouse | Reuters<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization on Monday issued its first guideline on the use of GLP-1 therapies for obesity, conditionally recommending them as part of long-term treatment for the condition, which affects more than 1 billion people globally according to the agency.<\/p>\n
Reuters first reported that the WHO was likely to take this step earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The guidance comes as demand for the class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists has surged worldwide, and governments are figuring out how to include the blockbuster therapies into public health systems.<\/p>\n
The first conditional recommendation advises the use of GLP-1 drugs by adults, except pregnant women, for long-term obesity treatment, while the second suggests pairing these with a healthy diet and physical activity.<\/p>\n
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the move “recognizes that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care,” but warned that medication alone will not solve this global health crisis.<\/p>\n
Dr Marie Spreckley of the University of Cambridge said the recommendations were “appropriately graded as conditional,” noting the uncertainties around long-term use at higher doses, affordability and health-system capacity.<\/p>\n
WHO officials stressed that access is now the biggest challenge. Even with rapid expansion in production, GLP-1 therapies are projected to reach fewer than 10% of those who could benefit, by 2030.<\/p>\n
“Our greatest concern is equitable access, without concerted action these medicines could contribute to widening the gap between the rich and poor, both between and within countries,” Tedros said.<\/p>\n
The latest move builds on the agency’s decision in September to add semaglutide and tirzepatide, active ingredients in Novo Nordisk’s<\/a>\u00a0Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s<\/a>\u00a0Mounjaro, to its essential medicines list for managing type 2 diabetes in high-risk groups, but stopped short of adding them for obesity.<\/p>\n WHO officials emphasized the need for expanding production, improving affordability, and creating procurement mechanisms such as pooled purchasing that have worked in large-scale health programs like HIV, to ensure equitable access to GLP-1s.<\/p>\n The latest guideline applies to adults with a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher and the recommendations are for three agents – semaglutide, tirzepatide, and an older drug from the same class called liraglutide.<\/p>\n WHO will work with governments and stakeholders in 2026 to help prioritize access for people with highest need, as the economic toll of obesity is projected to reach $3 trillion annually by 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A view shows The World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2025.\u00a0 Denis Balibouse |…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[11589,79,207,18,479,135,475,11588,474,19,17,8173,2900,3497],"class_list":{"0":"post-210970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-biotech-and-pharmaceuticals","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-business-news","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-eli-lilly-and-co","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-health-care","15":"tag-health-care-industry","16":"tag-healthcare","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-novo-nordisk-a-s","20":"tag-pharmaceuticals","21":"tag-world-health-organization"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115648785537071578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}