World Health Organization Guideline on the Use and Indications of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Therapies for the Treatment of Obesity in Adults
Abstract
Importance
Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease affecting over 1 billion people worldwide, driving substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. Glucagon-like peptide-1 therapies (GLP-1 therapies) provide clinically meaningful weight loss and broad metabolic benefits. In response to Member State requests, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued guidelines for adults living with obesity.
Observations
The guidelines recognize obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease requiring lifelong care and emphasize early diagnosis and integrated, person-centered approaches combining behavioral, medical, surgical, and other interventions alongside prevention and management of comorbidities. WHO recommends long-term GLP-1 therapies combined with intensive behavioral therapy to maximize and sustain benefits. Both recommendations were graded conditional, reflecting that GLP-1 therapies-with or without behavioral therapy-are effective, but limited long-term data, cost, system readiness, equity, variability in patient priorities, and context-specific feasibility remain considerations. Implementation of these guidelines depends on equitable access to affordable therapies, health system preparedness, and most importantly assurance that care is person-centered, nondiscriminatory, and universally accessible. Given the time required to implement these measures, a priority is a transparent, equitable, evidence-based framework to identify those at highest need while allowing…
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