March 31, 2023 – For the first time, the World Health Organization may add weight loss drugs to the list of essential medicines that it suggests countries worldwide purchase.
The WHO revises the “essential medicines” list every two years, and the next list will be issued in September. Three doctors and a researcher from the U.S. sent a recommendation to the WHO committee that finalizes the list, asking that the drug Saxenda be considered, according to Reuters.
It’s unclear how the committee will react to the request to use drugs as obesity treatments.
“We believe it is a work in progress,” said WHO director of nutrition Francesco Branca, MD, PhD, at a press briefing on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Branca said issues to be considered are the drug’s cost and that it may not have been in use long enough to make the list. Saxenda can soon be sold as a generic drug, Reuters reported.
"At the same time, WHO is looking at the use of drugs to reduce weight ... in the context of a systematic review for guidelines for children and adolescents," Branca said.
Saxenda has been FDA-approved since 2014 and is currently used in the U.S. for people with obesity who are age 12 and older. The FDA says the drug should be used in addition to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for treatment of chronic weight management in people who have a body mass index (a combined measure of height and weight) of at least 30, or who have a weight-related condition like high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol.
Saxenda is an injection that contains liraglutide, which is a type of drug called a GLP-1 receptor agonist. GLP-1 drugs work by telling the body to produce more insulin after eating, and the extra insulin then lowers blood sugar levels, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Many GLP-1 drugs are used to help people with Type 2 diabetes, but the exact mechanism that leads to weight loss is not entirely clear, the Mayo Clinic explained. The drugs seem to make people less hungry and feel full faster and longer, possibly because of slowed movement of food in the digestive tract. The end result is that people may eat less.
Obesity has tripled worldwide since 1975, and currently affects 1 billion people, including 650 million adults, 340 million adolescents, and 39 million children, the WHO says.
