WHO guidelines said GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic or Wegovy could be used by adults as part of a comprehensive approach to obesity treatment. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix via AFP
The World Health Organization has released its first guidelines on the Ozempic-type drugs, conditionally recommending their use for long-term treatment of obesity.
To tackle what it said was a serious health challenge, its guidelines said Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) medications such as Ozempic or Wegovy could be used by adults as part of a comprehensive approach. That included healthy diets, physical activity and support from health professionals.
Obesity was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024 and was major driver of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, it said.
"Our new guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care," WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO also called for fair access to the drugs and said they should be made affordable for those who needed them.
Peter Shepherd, professor of molecular medicine and pathology at University of Auckland, said obesity affected between 20 percent and 30 percent of the New Zealand population and was major driver of health problems.
He told Morning Report the therapies weren't without problems, but "nothing else has really worked".
"Levels of obesity globally have continued to rise despite the best efforts of diet and exercise and behavioural programmes to do otherwise over the years.
"And now we for the first time are seeing a reduction in levels of obesity, in the US of all places, reductions in people eating at fast food, restaurants, etcetera. So these drugs really do work."
University of Auckland profressor Peter Shepherd. Photo: University of Auckland
At a cost of $6000 a year in New Zealand, Shepherd said the drugs were out of reach for many people, but the price was likely to fall.
"These drugs are coming off patent as many biosimilars in the pipeline in China already, for example. So in the next few years, we're going to see these prices come down even more."
Australia's medicines regulator has issued a safety warning over the potential risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours when taking Ozempic-style drugs.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said people using the medicines should tell their health professional if they experienced new or worsening depression but stressed there was enough evidence to conclude the drugs caused those changes.
Shepherd said there was limited evidence of risk of suicidal thoughts among those taking the drugs.
There were gastric side effects and "more worryingly" people seemed to be losing not just fat but muscle mass.
"Particularly for older people, loss of muscle is not a good idea. So these probably will need to be supplanted by different types of weight loss drugs going forward that don't have these side effects".
The drugs were originally designed for type 2 diabetes treatment but became known as a weight loss solution.
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