365telugu.com online news,Mumbai, 4th December, 2025: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a significant new guideline, published in JAMA on December 1st, officially recognizing obesity as a ‘chronic, relapsing disease’ that necessitates lifelong care. This marks a definitive global policy shift away from viewing obesity as merely a lifestyle choice.
The guideline validates the clinical efficacy of Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies, which include drugs like semaglutide, and recommends their long-term use for adults living with obesity, citing substantial benefits that extend beyond weight loss to cardiac and metabolic health.
Obesity is a rapidly escalating worldwide crisis, currently affecting over 1 billion people. India mirrors this trend, with one in four adults affected and projections reaching one-third of the population by 2050. The economic burden is staggering, with health costs and lost productivity estimated at over $31 billion annually in India alone, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive intervention.
The new WHO guideline offers a blueprint for holistic obesity management, stressing that medication is a critical component that must be integrated into a person-centered care approach alongside behavioral, medical, surgical, and other essential interventions.
Key Takeaways from the WHO Guideline
- Shift to Long-Term Medical Management
Recommendation: The WHO recommends GLP-1 therapies be used as a long-term treatment (6 months or longer) for adults with obesity.
Rationale: This acknowledges obesity’s relapsing nature and the clinically meaningful weight loss provided by GLP-1s.
- Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
The guideline highlights the expanded therapeutic scope of GLP-1s, initially approved for diabetes, now benefiting multiple systems:
Cardiovascular Health: Reduction in major cardiovascular events, improvement in heart failure (with preserved ejection fraction), and lower systolic blood pressure.
Metabolic & Organ Health: Benefits for diabetes prevention, kidney diseases, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and LDL cholesterol.
Systemic Conditions: Improvements in obstructive sleep apnoea, peripheral artery disease, and potential impact on neurodegenerative diseases.
- Maximizing Results with Behavioral Support
Multi-modal Approach: To sustain and amplify therapeutic benefits, the WHO strongly recommends combining pharmacotherapy with Intensive Behavioural Therapy (IBT).
IBT Components: Structured goal setting for diet and physical activity, energy intake restriction, and frequent counselling sessions. Lifestyle counselling is recommended as the first step toward IBT for those prescribed GLP-1s.
- Addressing the Access Challenge (Conditional Recommendation)
While clinical effectiveness is clear, the WHO has issued a conditional recommendation due to real-world barriers that need urgent resolution:
Barriers: High cost, the need for more long-term safety data, and the risk of unequal access across global health systems.
Capacity Gap: Current global production capacity covers only a small fraction of the over 1 billion people affected by obesity.
A Blueprint for Global Action
The WHO outlines a strategic path forward to navigate access challenges:
Prioritizing High-Risk Patients: Since global access will take time, the immediate priority is to create a transparent framework to identify and treat those with the highest medical need first, expanding eligibility as production capacity increases.
Innovative Solutions: Strategies like tiered pricing and the development of innovative formulations (such as oral GLP-1 therapies) are pointed to as ways to improve production and distribution logistics.
The release of these guidelines is a tipping point in obesity treatment. The WHO emphasizes that the availability of effective therapies must spur the global community to build a fair, integrated, and sustainable obesity ecosystem.
By shifting toward anticipatory governance, nations have a historic opportunity to reverse the epidemiological trajectory of obesity and ensure comprehensive, affordable disease management for all who need it.