India, Dec. 2 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the first time issued guidelines on the use of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 or GLP-1 therapies for treating obesity. This is a major move at a time when the sales of these drugs are rapidly growing across the world. The global organisation has conditionally recommended these weight-loss medications as part of a new approach to treating obesity as a chronic disease.

WHO statistics show that obesity caused about 3.7 million deaths around the world each year as of 2024. The number of obese people is expected to double by 2030. WHO developed the GLP-1 medications guideline in response to requests from its member states looking to address the challenges posed by obesity.

GLP-1 receptor ...