WHO backs use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss
S&T – HEALTH
3 DECEMBER 2025
- In a much-anticipated development, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally issued global guidelines on the use of popular weight loss drugs, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies to treat obesity in adults.
- The WHO guidelines released on December 1 posit equitable access as the key element of using such therapies.
- Beyond its health impacts, the global economic cost of obesity is predicted to reach $3 trillion annually by 2030.
- Obesity is a complex chronic disease and a major driver of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer.
- There are two primary components to the WHO’s recommendations: That GLP-1 therapies may be used by adults, excluding pregnant women, conditionally, for the long-term treatment of obesity; and that intensive behavioural interventions in diet and physical activity must be continued alongside the drugs.
