In an internal memo, the World Health Organization signaled its support for anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, which the agency decided against listing in 2023, the last time the Essential Medicines list was updated.
The World Health Organization will likely officially support the use of weight-loss medication for adults worldwide, according to an exclusive Thursday report from Reuters.
The WHO now believes that these widely popular obesity drugs—including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound—could qualify as so-called “essential medicine[s],” according to Reuters, which cited an internal memo about the matter. The global health authority publishes its Essential Medicines list every two years, as per the recommendations of an expert committee. Drugs on this list “satisfy the priority health care needs of a population,” according to the WHO, and should be available in “functioning health systems at all times.”
In line with this planned support, the WHO’s internal document also raised concerns about the accessibility of these weight-loss treatments. A monthly course of Wegovy or Zepbound can run upwards of $1,000 per month—final prices vary according to the actual prescription and insurance plan—which may be out of reach for a majority of patients, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries.
The WHO intends to call for strategies to improve the affordability of these drugs, noting in its memo that “mechanisms that are used in large-scale medicine access programmes may need to be adopted,” as per Reuters’ reporting.
In a statement to the publication, a WHO spokesperson said the global health authority could finalize these new guidelines by August or September, at which time it would provide more detail regarding “how and when this class of medications may be integrated as one component of a chronic care model that includes both clinical and lifestyle interventions.”
In December 2024, three high-ranking officials at the agency penned an opinion piece for JAMA, arguing that while GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound present a “transformative” weapon against the obesity pandemic, the way they are currently being used could undermine public health interventions.
“Medication in isolation will not be enough to address the obesity crisis,” they wrote, arguing that it is crucial for health systems worldwide to ensure “universally available services to prevent, treat, and manage the disease in a way that is accessible, affordable, and sustainable.”
The last time the WHO updated its Essential Medicines list, in mid-2023, its experts decided against including obesity drugs, pointing to uncertainties regarding the long-term benefits and safety of these therapies.
