Obesity drugs remain private as state mulls public rollout
South Africa's health department has yet to begin assessing the inclusion of GLP-1 obesity drugs in the public health sector. While these drugs are recognized by the WHO for diabetes and obesity management, the government is currently only reviewing them for diabetes treatment.
Why it matters
With South Africa facing the highest obesity prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa, the delay in public access to effective treatments highlights a significant gap in addressing the country's rising noncommunicable disease burden.
Almost a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) backed GLP-1 drugs for long-term obesity treatment, South Africa’s health department has yet to begin assessing whether to make them available to public sector patients, a senior official has confirmed.
The national essential medicines committee is considering adding GLP-1 medicines to the list of drugs that can be prescribed for diabetes patients who rely on state health-care facilities, but it has not started to review the evidence for their use in obesity care, according to the department’s chief director for health promotion, Rebone Ntsie.
The WHO added GLP-1 drugs to its essential drugs list for managing diabetes in September 2025 and released guidelines for their use as a chronic treatment for obesity in December last year.
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