Obesity, according to the World Health Organization, brings numerous health problems such as type 2 diabetes; cardiovascular diseases like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and strokes; certain cancers, digestive diseases, respiratory disorders and joint diseases.
Xenical, Wirth said, is a "major weapon for physicians globally in their battle to manage weight."
A major study involving 5,000 physicians and 15,000 overweight men and women confirmed that the weight loss drug Xenical (Orlistat) can really support physicians by helping their patients in their battle to lose weight.
The average weight loss with Xenical after seven month of treatment was approximately 11 percent of total body weight – about 11 kilograms (24 pounds) – with participants losing about eight centimeters (three inches) from their waist measurement.
The study also demonstrated significant improvements in health-related risks such as type 2 diabetes, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
Xenical is the only available weight loss medication that works locally in the gut to prevent dietary fat absorption by about 30 percent, and effectively promotes weight loss maintenance.
It is the most extensively studied pharmacological weight management treatment to date, with over 30,000 overweight or obese patients participating in clinical trials.
Unlike other weight loss medications, Xenical does not act on the brain. Since it was first marketed in 1998, there have been more than nine million patient treatments worldwide.
Xenical, a prescription drug, is available in all major drugstores in the country.