The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that new weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy are not a "silver bullet" for addressing the rapid rise in global obesity rates.


Francesco Branca, WHO director of nutrition and food safety, emphasized that drugs for obesity are important but must be "part of a comprehensive approach."

3.     The WHO is revising guidelines for treating children and adolescents with obesity, and will then update recommendations for adults.

4.     The agency has commissioned the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research to assess the evidence for the use of all drugs for children and adolescents.

5.     Other interventions, including diet and exercise, remain critical to help manage obesity.

6.     The percentage of children and adolescents who are obese or overweight has risen to just over 18% in 2016 from 4% in 1975, and this now represents more than 340 million people.

7.     Wegovy and Mounjaro are two of the newer drugs that have been shown to help people lose around 15% of their body weight. They are part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, and are given by a weekly injection.

8.     The enormous demand for these drugs is expected to be worth $100 billion in annual sales within a decade, with as many as 10 different drugs on the market.

9.     However, studies suggest that people are likely to have to take the drugs for the rest of their lives to keep the weight off. The WHO's revised guidelines will be based on more robust methodology than previous iterations and include up-to-the-minute science.

10. The first draft of the new management guidelines for children and adolescents is expected by the end of this year. The WHO is also vetting researchers extensively to avoid conflict of interest concerns.

11. Novo Nordisk was suspended earlier this year from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for its marketing practices, such alleged funding of health professionals and providing training that the association alleged was intended to promote its drug.

1.     The WHO describes obesity as a "rising epidemic," and Branca emphasized that drugs for obesity should not be seen as a "solution" but rather as part of a comprehensive approach that includes diet and exercise.