Boehringer Ingelheim Pledges $5 Million for Global Obesity Care

Boehringer Ingelheim and the WHO Foundation have launched a three-year collaboration to strengthen obesity care and metabolic health services in resource-limited settings.

Under the collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim will contribute $5 million to the WHO Foundation. The funding will support efforts to improve how health systems prepare for, monitor and manage obesity and related conditions, including cardiovascular, kidney, liver and other metabolic diseases.

Obesity is a growing global health challenge. In 2022, more than 2.5 billion adults and over 390 million children and adolescents were overweight worldwide. The WHO estimates that about one in eight people globally were living with obesity, with adult obesity rates more than doubling since 1990.

The new collaboration will focus on supporting more integrated approaches to obesity and metabolic health. Rather than treating obesity and related diseases separately, the partners aim to encourage coordinated, long-term care that addresses the links between these conditions.

The WHO Foundation will support the World Health Organization’s Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity, which was adopted by WHO Member States in 2022. The plan is designed to help countries move from policy commitments to practical action through evidence-based interventions, stronger country-level ownership and changes across health systems.

The collaboration will also look at ways to bring together health and non-health sectors in efforts to address obesity. People living with noncommunicable diseases will be involved in policy discussions, with a focus on developing more patient-centered approaches to care.

According to the partners, the work will generate practical knowledge and models that could help countries strengthen obesity services beyond the initial participating regions.

The initiative builds on an existing relationship between Boehringer Ingelheim and the WHO Foundation focused on strengthening suicide prevention systems in the Americas.

The companies said the new program reflects the need for health systems to address obesity alongside related chronic diseases. By improving coordination across prevention, monitoring and treatment, the collaboration aims to support more integrated chronic care within primary healthcare systems.

The three-year program is expected to focus on resource-limited settings, where health systems can face additional challenges in responding to the growing burden of obesity and metabolic diseases.