Brazil's Ministry of Health formally asked on Thursday (Sept 24) for Conitec to evaluate adding weight-loss injections based on semaglutide and liraglutide, the so-called GLP-1 pens, to the country's public health system. According to columnist Mônica Bergamo of Folha de S.Paulo, health minister Alexandre Padilha sent a formal request to the commission so the offer of these drugs to patients with obesity can be assessed. News site G1 confirmed the filing.
What is confirmed so far is only that the review has started. Conitec, the national commission that advises the ministry on which medicines and procedures the public system should fund, is the first of several steps. After its technical opinion, the case still goes through a public consultation before a final decision. There is no set deadline, and approval is not guaranteed.
Why the request came now
Two factors changed compared with earlier reviews, according to the ministry itself. Semaglutide and liraglutide have lost patent protection, and 25 pen formulations are now registered in Brazil, 14 of them approved in 2026, including domestically produced versions and generics. New brands have also cut prices by roughly 70% in less than a year. Earlier Conitec assessments had pointed to a cost impact in the billions of reais over five years, depending on how many patients were included and how long treatment lasted.
The SUS, Brazil's universal public health system, currently provides no obesity medication on a broad basis. The only program is a pilot started in June in Porto Alegre, in the south of the country, which follows about 250 patients with severe obesity or an indication for bariatric surgery. Last week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the pens would be made available through the public system, while noting that technical steps remained.
The potential demand is large. Ministry data show the share of Brazilian adults with obesity rose from 11.8% in 2006 to 25.7% in 2024. Even if Conitec issues a favorable recommendation, getting the drugs to patients would still require defining who qualifies, under what conditions, and where the funding would come from.
In practice, nothing changes immediately for public system users: the pens remain available only on the private market, and the Porto Alegre pilot covers a limited group that is already set. The public consultation that follows the Conitec report will be open to anyone who wants to comment before the final decision. People living with obesity should keep regular follow-up at their health services, since the criteria for any public access have not been defined yet.