France allows obesity drugs via public health insurance

France has taken a significant step by becoming the first major European Union member to provide public health insurance coverage for obesity medications Mounjaro and Wegovy. This decision applies to patients who meet specific medical criteria, marking a crucial advancement in treating obesity as a chronic disease requiring systemic intervention.

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One of the most significant news presented at the event comes from France. That country has become the first major member of the European Union to enable the financing of competitive drugs Mounjaro and Wegovy for the treatment of obesity in patients who meet the prescribed medical criteria.

The announcement came during a professional event at the European Parliament in Brussels, which gathered policymakers, doctors, patient representatives, and health experts. The gathering aimed to foster a coordinated European agenda on obesity and cardiometabolic challenges. Italy was also highlighted for its pioneering legislation recognizing obesity as a chronic illness, a move that emphasizes prevention, early detection, and accessible treatment over solely recommending lifestyle changes.

This European progress contrasts sharply with the situation in Croatia. Representatives from the Association for the Promotion of Patient Education (UPED) expressed concern that the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) is unlikely to fund obesity treatments in the near future. Furthermore, there is a notable delay in approving Mounjaro for Type 2 diabetes patients, despite the disease's significant complications and costs to the healthcare system.

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We do not expect the HZZO to finance obesity treatment drugs in the near future because obesity is still not sufficiently recognized as a disease in Croatia. However, it is worrying that we have been waiting for over a year for a decision on including the drug Mounjaro on the HZZO list even for the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes, although it is a disease that causes serious complications and huge costs to the health system every day.

Experts at the Brussels event stressed that there is no longer any justification for individuals to suffer from untreated diabetes or obesity, given recent scientific strides. Effective prevention programs, early detection methods, and modern therapies can substantially reduce the risks of severe health outcomes, including heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, and premature death. The scale of the problem in Europe is alarming, with daily deaths from these preventable or treatable conditions equivalent to passengers on three commercial aircraft.

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There is no longer any justification for people to suffer from the consequences of untreated diabetes or obesity. Science has made great strides in recent years, diseases are better understood than ever before, there are effective prevention programs, early detection possibilities, and modern therapies that can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, and premature death.