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How does the Thiqa obesity programme work, and who qualifies?

Abu Dhabi’s 2025 policy for covering weight-loss medicines: the BMI rules, the certified doctors, the 4-month check and the 10,000-step target.

GLP Guidebook teamPublished 12 Oct 20269 min read9 sourcesWritten from published sources

Written for the United Arab Emirates.

The short answer

Thiqa, Abu Dhabi’s government health cover for eligible UAE nationals, pays for weight-loss medicines through an obesity programme. Adults need a BMI of 30 or more with a listed condition, or 40 or more. To keep cover, they must hold more than 5% weight loss and meet an activity target, such as 10,000 steps a day.

Key takeaways

  • Abu Dhabi’s Thiqa reimbursement policy for obesity medicines took effect on 11 June 2025 and applies to adults aged 18 and over.1
  • The policy covers adults with a BMI of 30 to 39.9 and a listed weight-related condition, or a BMI of 40 or more with no condition needed.1
  • The prescriber must be a family or internal medicine doctor with obesity certification approved by the Department of Health, or a trained specialist.1
  • Cover depends on keeping more than 5% weight loss plus an activity target, such as 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week or 10,000 steps a day.1
  • In the STEP 1 trial of Wegovy 2.4 mg, 86 in 100 people lost at least 5% of their weight over 68 weeks, against 32 in 100 on dummy injections.2
On this page
  1. What is the Thiqa obesity programme?
  2. Who does the policy cover?
  3. Which doctors can prescribe under it?
  4. How does the programme run, month by month?
  5. What are the 5% and 10,000-step rules?
  6. What happens after the first months?
  7. How likely is a 5% weight loss on these medicines?
  8. Questions people ask
  9. How we researched this

What is the Thiqa obesity programme?

It is how Thiqa pays for obesity medicines such as GLP‑1s. The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) policy took effect on 11 June 2025.1

Before you go further
  • GLP‑1 medicines are prescription-only in the UAE and should be used only under medical supervision.3
  • This post describes a payment policy. It does not tell you whether you qualify; a certified doctor decides that.
  • The policy is reviewed every 3 months in its first year, then yearly, so details can change.1
  • Every risk of these medicines is in Guide 5: Side effects and risks.

Thiqa is the Abu Dhabi government’s health programme for eligible UAE nationals.1 The policy covers “obesity management medications”, including GLP‑1 medicines and the phentermine-topiramate combination.1 It says it is a payment policy, not a clinical guide; doctors follow DoH’s obesity standard for treatment.1,4

Daman, which administers Thiqa, confirms the link from the other side. Its GLP‑1 rules say obesity GLP‑1s are not covered for members outside the Thiqa obesity programme.5 Our insurance post covers other plans.

Who does the policy cover?

Thiqa members aged 18 or over with a BMI of at least 30. Between 30 and 39.9 a listed weight-related condition is also needed; at 40 or more it is not.1

BMI (body mass index) is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared. For someone 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall, a BMI of 30 is about 87 kg (192 lb), and 35 is about 101 kg (223 lb).

BMIWhat else the policy asks for
30 to 34.9One condition from a list, including heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, severe sleep apnoea, severe asthma, disabling joint disease, PCOS with infertility or severe urinary incontinence
35 to 39.9One condition from a wider list, which adds blood-vessel disease and a severely reduced quality of life
40 or moreNo condition needed

Summarised from DoH/Policy/TRP-OMM/HPS/V1/2025, section 3.2. Some conditions must be confirmed by a specialist.1

Who the policy leaves out. It does not apply to cosmetic weight loss, children, or pregnant or breastfeeding women.1 It also excludes people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2 (an inherited gland condition), past pancreatitis, or past side effects bad enough to stop a similar medicine.1

These thresholds are higher than the medicines’ own labels, which start at a BMI of 27 with a condition. They match DoH’s obesity standard, which starts GLP‑1s at a BMI of 30 with a condition, or over 40.4 Our post on Abu Dhabi’s rules covers the standard.

Which doctors can prescribe under it?

Only doctors with obesity training the Department of Health recognises. Family and internal medicine doctors need a DoH-approved obesity certification; specialists need obesity training and certification.1

The policy gives endocrinology and diabetology as examples of specialists.1 DoH’s standard says the “obesity certified physician” decides when to start medicine, after discussing benefits, side effects and monitoring.4 Care can involve a team: a doctor, dietitian, exercise physiologist, psychologist and nurse.1

How does the programme run, month by month?

A 1-month trial, then up to 3 months at a time, with a check at 4 months. Medicines dispensed in the first 4 months are paid back only if the check is passed.1

  1. Registration. Once the criteria are met and you agree, the prescriber registers you and records your starting weight.1
  2. Month 1: a trial. One month’s supply, to see whether you can tolerate side effects such as nausea.1
  3. Months 2 to 4. If you and your doctor agree to continue, up to 3 months’ supply can be prescribed.1
  4. The 4-month check. If treatment is working, you are reimbursed for the first 4 months through the Thiqa app, and later supplies are billed directly.1
  5. Partial success. More than 5% weight loss but the activity target missed: no repayment for the first 4 months, but 3 more months are covered while you meet both rules.1
  6. Still not met. Cover stops, and you are treated as having opted out.1

This means paying up front for the first 4 months. At the fixed price of AED 1,734 a Mounjaro pen, 4 pens come to AED 6,936, for example.6 Check with your provider how this works for you.

What are the 5% and 10,000-step rules?

Two tests, both needed: more than 5% weight loss from your starting weight, and one of three activity targets kept on average.1

  • 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, at 70–85% of your maximum heart rate.1
  • 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, at 50–70% of your maximum heart rate.1
  • 10,000 steps a day on average.1
  • Or an individual programme set by your doctor, only if your health does not allow the targets above.1

For a 100 kg (220 lb) person, more than 5% means losing more than 5 kg (11 lb) from the starting weight.

How it is tracked. The policy recommends a wearable that counts steps and heart rate, linked to Sahatna, the DoH health app. The tracking report in Malaffi, Abu Dhabi’s shared health record, is mandatory.1 People without the technology, or with medical limits, can be allowed manual records instead.1

Exceptions. Your doctor can relax the 5% rule for conditions that add weight on their own, such as fluid build-up. The activity rule can be relaxed for a medical reason, such as a fracture or a hospital stay.1

Free toolCould a GLP‑1 be an option?

See what the Dubai and Abu Dhabi rules describe for your BMI and health. A starting point for a doctor visit, not a verdict.

Check what the rules say

What happens after the first months?

Cover continues while the treatment keeps working, reviewed every 3 months by the prescriber. It continues even if your BMI falls to 24.9 or below.1

That last point matters, because many coverage rules stop once weight falls. This one pays for the maintenance dose as long as you keep the weight loss and the activity.1 Stopping is the prescriber’s decision if treatment stops working.1

Leaving and coming back. If you leave without a medical reason, you are opted out. You can re-enrol at any time, but you start again from the beginning.1 Weight usually returns after these medicines stop; Guide 9: Stopping explains why.

How likely is a 5% weight loss on these medicines?

Most people in the big trials passed 5%, but not everyone. In STEP 1, 86 in 100 people on Wegovy 2.4 mg lost at least 5% over 68 weeks, against 32 in 100 on dummy injections.2

STEP 1 included 1,961 adults without diabetes. Both groups had the same diet and activity advice; the gap between them is what the medicine added. Average weight loss was 14.9% against 2.4%.2 For a 100 kg person, that is about 15 kg against 2 kg, on average. Some lose much more and some very little.

Put the other way, about 14 in 100 people on the medicine did not reach 5%. The programme’s activity rule is extra: trials did not require 10,000 steps.

RisksThe risks, in brief
  • Stomach effects (feeling sick, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation) are very common, more than 1 in 10 people, on the EU Wegovy and Mounjaro labels.7,8
  • Pancreatitis is uncommon (1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000) on both EU labels. The sign is severe stomach pain that won’t go away.7,8
  • Gallstones are common (1 in 10 to 1 in 100) on the EU Wegovy label and uncommon on the EU Mounjaro label.7,8
  • Dehydration from vomiting or diarrhoea can harm the kidneys, the EU label warns.7
Full detail in Guide 5: Side effects and risks →
Get help now: call 998 (ambulance) or 999 (police) anywhere in the UAE.9 Call for severe stomach pain that won’t go away, fainting, or someone who is confused or hard to wake.

Questions people ask

Who is eligible for the Thiqa obesity programme?

Thiqa members aged 18 or over with a BMI of 30 to 39.9 and a listed condition, or 40 or more. A certified doctor decides.1

Does Thiqa cover Mounjaro or Wegovy for weight loss?

The policy covers obesity medicines, including GLP‑1s, inside the obesity programme.1 Daman’s table lists Mounjaro and Wegovy for obesity management.5

What happens if I don’t reach 10,000 steps?

The step target is one of three options; 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week also count. Missing all of them at 4 months means no repayment for those months.1

Do I need a smartwatch?

The policy recommends a wearable linked to the Sahatna app. People without the technology or with medical limits can be allowed manual records.1

Does cover stop when my BMI is normal?

No. The policy says cover for the maintenance dose continues even if BMI reaches 24.9 or below, while you keep meeting the rules.1

How we researched this

On 12 October 2026 we read the full Thiqa reimbursement policy for obesity medications (V1, 2025), DoH’s Standard for Non-Surgical Management of Obesity (2025) and Daman’s GLP‑1 guideline (revised April 2026). Trial figures come from the published STEP 1 paper; side-effect bands come from the EU labels, because the UAE labels are not published online.

The policy was due for 3-monthly revision in its first year; we found no newer version. We did not find a public list of the “selected providers”, and we would not name them if we had. We describe the rules; a certified doctor decides who they apply to.

Before you move on

  • Thiqa’s programme is for Thiqa members aged 18 and over.
  • BMI 30 to 39.9 needs a listed condition; 40 or more does not.
  • Cover hinges on more than 5% weight loss and an activity target at the 4-month check.
  • Plan for paying the first 4 months up front, until the check is passed.
Weight and health in the UAECould it be an option?Thinking about a GLP-1 for weight

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About GLP Guidebook

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An independent guide to GLP‑1 medicines. We don't sell medicines, take drug-company money or earn clinic commissions. Once a month: approvals, price changes, insurance rules and safety alerts in the UAE. How we write

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Sources

  1. Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Thiqa reimbursement policy for obesity medications, DoH/Policy/TRP-OMM/HPS/V1/2025, published and effective 11 June 2025, sections 2.9–2.10, 3.1–3.7 and "Exclusions and Limitations" (revision every 3 months for the first 12 months, then yearly). PDF
  2. Wilding JPH et al. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity (STEP 1). NEJM 2021;384:989–1002. 1,961 adults without diabetes, 68 weeks; funded by Novo Nordisk. DOI
  3. Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Circular 48/2026, 16 March 2026, relaying an Australian alert on fake GLP-1 products ("GLP-1 receptor agonists ... are prescription-only medicines and should only be used under medical supervision"; the products "are not registered with The Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) but can be purchased online and through social media platforms"; report to the DoH Pharmacovigilance programme, [email protected]). Summarised, not reproduced. PDF
  4. Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Standard for Non-Surgical Management of Obesity, DOH/ST/HPS/Non-Surgical-MO/V1/2025, February 2025, sections 3.4.2 (GLP-1 starting and stopping criteria; "The obesity certified physician determines the initiation time of pharmacological treatment") and 4.1 (physician "who has training in obesity management and certification approved by DoH"). PDF
  5. Daman (National Health Insurance Company). Adjudication guideline: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonist, ref. 2021-PH-09, version 5, effective 15 January 2023, revised 19 April 2026. Sections 2 (applies to "all health insurance plans administered by Daman"), 3.1.1 (type 2 diabetes initiation, duration and 12-month reassessment), 3.1.2 (obesity), 3.2 (eligible specialties), 3.3 (non-coverage), Table 1 (brands, uses, doses, 1 box a month) and section 4 (denial codes). PDF
  6. Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. Shafafiya drug list (Drugs.xlsx), release 26 September 2026, effective 2 October 2026: “Package Price to Public” in AED, and dispense mode “POM” (prescription-only medicine), for Mounjaro KwikPen 2.5 to 15 mg (AED 1,734 for each strength). Downloaded and checked against this page on 12 October 2026. The official list, not a seller. XLSX
  7. European Medicines Agency. Wegovy (semaglutide injection): product information (EU label), sections 4.4, 4.8 and 6.3. Not the UAE label. PDF
  8. European Medicines Agency. Mounjaro (tirzepatide): product information (EU label), sections 4.4, 4.8 and 6.3. Not the UAE label. PDF
  9. Department of Digital Ajman. Handling emergencies ("999 for Police", "998 for Ambulance", "997 for Fire Department (Civil Defence)"). Checked 12 October 2026. ajman.ae

Last checked 12 Oct 2026 · Next review due 12 Apr 2027 · Report an error

How this post was made. Written by the GLP Guidebook team from the sources above. It's general information, not medical advice. Talk to a qualified doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine. How we write