Despite not being subsidised and representing a high cost (it can reach 245 euros per month), the demand for these medicines has not stopped growing: sales have almost doubled in the last five years, going from 45,790 packages in 2019 to 119,588 in 2024, according to data from the National Association of Pharmacies (ANF), based on information from Health Market Research (HMR).

Reimbursement for these medications - with the active substances Bupropion + Naltrexone, Liraglutide, Orlistat, Semaglutide and Tirzepatide - has been demanded by specialists, doctors and patient associations, who defend their importance in combating obesity, which affects 15.9% of Portuguese adults, and excess weight, which affects 37.3% of the adult population.

In 2019, 45,790 packages were sold, in 2020, 46,500 (+1.6%), in 2021, 55,173 (+18.7%), in 2022, 60,259 (+9.2%), and in 2023, 82,513 (+36.9%).

The most significant growth occurred in 2024, with 119,588 packages sold (+44.9%). This year, up until April, 111,093 have already been made available.

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the Portuguese Society for the Study of Obesity, José Silva Nunes, highlighted the importance of sharing the cost of these medications, which makes them unaffordable for many families.

“We now have medicines that are much more powerful for treating obesity, but they are expensive and are not subsidized, greatly limiting the access of people suffering from this disease to effective treatment,” lamented the endocrinologist.

José Silva Nunes noted that it is the most disadvantaged classes, where the prevalence of obesity is higher, that “have greater difficulty in accessing effective treatment, both in terms of medication and surgery”.

“Despite everything, the SNS still provides surgery at zero cost. It is true that there are long waiting times, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Regarding drugs, since there is no reimbursement, it is not a question of long waiting times, it is simply the impossibility of accessing this therapeutic weapon”, he highlighted.

Although he recognizes the costs that co-participation represents for the State, the expert considers that, in the medium and long term, this measure will have clear benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness.

The president of the Portuguese Association of People Living with Obesity (ADEXO), Carlos Oliveira, also warned that “people with the same disease cannot be treated differently”, considering that it is “discrimination that the State itself is committing”.

Carlos Oliveira hopes that the new Government will continue the work that was being done and approve the co-participation in 2025.

“This is one of the measures we are waiting for, especially because the current situation is one of discrimination. People who are recommended for surgery have their treatment paid for in full,” while those who are only recommended for pharmacological treatment “have no support whatsoever.”

According to the study Cost and Burden of Obesity, published at the end of last year, obesity and pre-obesity represent an annual direct cost of 1.14 billion euros in Portugal.

“Even from an economic point of view, obesity has a brutal impact, corresponding to very close to 6% of health expenditure”, concluded José Silva Nunes.