More than 6,500 people have lost weight through Abu Dhabi's Personalised Weight Management Programme, run jointly by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) and the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. According to programme data, participants lost an average of 14 per cent of their body weight in the first year, with the highest recorded loss reaching 22 per cent. Among the cases highlighted, one participant went from 170kg to 130kg, while another lost 9kg.

The programme is open to Thiqa cardholders aged 18 and over who are overweight or living with obesity, and is currently offered at more than 54 healthcare facilities, with plans to expand to 15 additional sites. Treatment options include the injectable medications Mounjaro and Wegovy, oral pills such as Eli Lilly's Foundayo and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill. The programme is also monitoring retatrutide, a research drug nicknamed the 'triple G', which has shown weight loss of between 24 and 28 per cent in clinical trials.

Dr Durra Al Blooshi of ADPHC said the programme had enabled thousands of participants to achieve sustainable health outcomes, underlining the importance of treating obesity as a complex chronic disease rather than a lifestyle issue.

Health authorities in Abu Dhabi describe the initiative as part of a broader push to reduce obesity rates and related chronic diseases across the emirate, as the use of GLP-1 and related weight-loss medications continues to expand in the UAE.