WHO Unveils GLP-1 Guidelines | Scientific American

WHO sets guidelines on GLP-1 weight loss drugs

By Dan Vergano edited by Claire Cameron

The World Health Organization’s new guidelines for GLP-1 weight loss drugs state that “intensive behavioral therapy” should be combined with these breakthrough drugs for the treatment of obesity. In guidelines released Monday, WHO calls for the creation of a “global obesity ecosystem” to ensure equitable use of medicines.

More than a billion people are affected by obesity worldwide, and in 2021, the disease was linked to some 3.7 million deaths from heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. Yet in recent years, GLP-1 drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, while expensive, have proven surprisingly effective in treating obesity, three WHO officials write in the organization’s guidelines, published in JAMA. These successes have raised hopes for treatment and questions about fairness.

“The advent of these drugs represents a turning point in the treatment of obesity, its complications and associated comorbidities,” write WHO officials. In two best practice recommendations, they call for “long-term” use of medications and the inclusion of diet and exercise advice to treat obesity in adults. Ultimately, effectively treating this disease will require “building a broader anti-obesity ecosystem” to ensure no one is left behind, they write.

On supporting science journalism

If you enjoy this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscription. By purchasing a subscription, you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

According to the WHO’s best-case scenario, there is not enough GLP-1 to cover all obese people: in the coming years, WHO officials write in their document, around 100 million people are expected to have access to the drugs, or less than 10 percent of obese people. Yet the new drugs “could transform obesity into a treatable chronic disease,” officials add.

The WHO guidelines “signal that GLP-1 for the treatment of obesity is moving into the mainstream of health care,” says Louis Aronne of Weill Cornell Medicine, founder and former president of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. It emphasizes early diagnosis and treatment, he notes, thereby changing the landscape of metabolic disease management, for example by significantly reducing patients’ progression to diabetes with GLP-1 drugs. “Think about the dramatic improvement in quality of life and reduction in health care costs associated with this outcome alone, but treating obesity produces many other benefits,” says Aronne.

It’s time to defend science

If you enjoyed this article, I would like to ask for your support. Scientific American has been defending science and industry for 180 years, and we are currently experiencing perhaps the most critical moment in these two centuries of history.

I was a Scientific American subscriber since the age of 12, and it helped shape the way I see the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of respect for our vast and magnificent universe. I hope this is the case for you too.

If you subscribe to Scientific Americanyou help ensure our coverage centers on meaningful research and discoveries; that we have the resources to account for decisions that threaten laboratories across the United States; and that we support budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In exchange, you receive essential information, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, newsletters not to be missed, unmissable videos, stimulating games and the best writings and reports from the scientific world. You can even offer a subscription to someone.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you will support us in this mission.