Obesity drugs remain private as state yet to review public rollout
South Africa's health department has yet to begin assessing the public rollout of GLP-1 obesity drugs, despite WHO guidelines. While these drugs are available in the private sector, they remain inaccessible to the majority of the population relying on state healthcare.
Why it matters
The delay in public access to obesity treatments highlights the growing health inequality and the burden of noncommunicable diseases in South Africa.
Almost a year after the World Health Organisation (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 healthcare 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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