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Blockbuster weight loss drugs can be used to treat obesity – paired with exercise, diet, and counselling – the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its first guidance on the medicines on Monday.
The recommendations come as health officials and doctors debate how best to approach anti-obesity and diabetes medicines such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, which have exploded in popularity in recent years.
They are part of a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which help people lose weight by mimicking a hormone that reduces their appetite.
People often regain weight when they stop taking these medicines, prompting questions over whether they may need to be taken for life – and how best to support people taking them.
The WHO guidance applies to GLP-1 drugs such as tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound), semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus), and liraglutide (Saxenda).
The agency said its recommendations are “conditional” because the evidence shows weight loss drugs can effectively treat obesity and metabolic health issues, but data is limited on their long-term impact, costs, effects on health systems, and other factors.
Cardiovascular health experts welcomed the recommendations, which were published in the medical journal JAMA.
“A key strength [of the guidance] is the emphasis on combining medication with behavioural support and on the need for equitable access, rather than presenting drugs as a stand-alone solution,” Marie Spreckley, a nutritionist and obesity researcher at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.
“It clearly recognises obesity as a chronic, progressive, and relapsing disease that requires long-term, integrated management rather than short-term treatment,” she added.
More than 890 million adults worldwide are obese, according to the WHO. Being obese or overweight can have serious health consequences, causing an estimated 3.7 million deaths annually from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, digestive problems, chronic respiratory diseases, and neurological disorders.
The WHO guidance said obesity treatments should combine medication with behavioural support to help people live healthier lifestyles and get regular exercise, and that these patients should receive long-term follow-up care.
The guidance “makes the important point that any strategy to curb the global obesity epidemic will require coordinated efforts in public health to look at food systems and the physical activity environment as well as improving access to treatment,” Dr John Wilding, a medicine professor at the University of Liverpool, said in a statement.
The WHO said the next version of its recommendations will focus on increasing access to GLP-1 drugs as they become more readily available.
“I hope this will help focus WHO member states to consider how to improve access to comprehensive obesity care, and this is a welcome first step,” Wilding said.