In part 3 of a Spotlight special series on the role of new weight loss medicines like Ozempic in South Africa, we ask what these breakthrough jabs might mean for people living with HIV in the country. There is some tantalising early research on potential benefits, but also many uncertainties. Catherine Tomlinson reports.
In South Africa, access to weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro remains limited to those who can shell out a few thousand Rand a month. In the second article of a Spotlight special series, Catherine Tomlinson looks at the medical need for these medicines in the country and what it would take for government to provide them in the public sector.
Sales of weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have sky-rocketed in South Africa in recent years, although they remain too expensive for most people who might benefit from the jabs. In the first article of this Spotlight special series, Catherine Tomlinson tracks their remarkable rise and assesses when they will become more widely available here.
Health workers have long relied on Body Mass Index (BMI) as a way to measure whether people are within a healthy weight range. Now, a collection of top researchers have made the case for a new way to understand and diagnose obesity. In part two of this special Spotlight series, we take a look at what this new framing might mean for South Africa.
Authors of a recent Lancet report argue that obesity should not just be seen as a risk factor for other diseases – but in some cases, should be seen as a disease itself. The position could change how we treat obesity globally. In the first of this two-part Spotlight series, Jesse Copelyn breaks down the debate around the issue, and its implications for health policy.
The remarkable efficacy of new diabetes and weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have been one of the biggest health stories of recent years. Despite rising rates of diabetes and obesity, access to these medicines remain limited in South Africa. Catherine Tomlinson asks which of the GLP-1 agonists are available here and at what price.
