EMA partners with Instagram influencers to counter GLP-1 misinformation

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has partnered with seven European social media influencers to raise awareness about the safe use and potential risks of taking GLP-1 receptor agonists. As the drugs have become more popular for weight loss, the agency is concerned about potential misuse and counterfeit products.

On 21 October, EMA announced it had launched the #HealthNotHype month-long campaign with content creators from around the continent to promote responsible use of GLP-1 drugs. The popular type-2 diabetes drugs have become weight loss blockbuster drugs over the past few years, raising concerns that people who don’t have type 2 diabetes or are considered obese are taking them as easy weight loss treatments.

“#HealthNotHype is about passing the message that GLP-1 receptor agonists are not magic solutions for weight loss,” said EMA’s Executive Director Emer Cooke. “Like all medicines, they have benefits and risks and are not for everyone.

“They are long-term treatments that must be accompanied by other lifestyle changes, always under the supervision of a doctor,” she added. “By working with content creators, we want to ensure that validated scientific information is part of the conversations people are having on social media about these medicines.”

EMA has raised concerns that, as GLP-1s have gained popularity, they have received social media and celebrity endorsements that are not only increasing awareness and interest in the drugs but also the potential for misinformation, misuse, and sale of counterfeit products. To counter the potential for risky public communication, the agency said it has carefully selected the content creator partners from seven member states to ensure they cover a broad geographical area.

“They were chosen for their credibility in healthcare communication and their alignment with EMA’s values of evidence-based information, respect, transparency and independence,” said the European regulator. “The selected creators are mostly healthcare professionals or experts in nutrition.

“The main channel for this first campaign is Instagram, due to the high volume of conversations and information on GLP-1 receptor agonists circulating on this platform,” the agency added.

EMA said that the influencers will post content on their own channels over the next month and interact with their followers through quizzes and polls.

EMA's social media partners include Boticaria García, a Spanish pharmacist, dietician, optometrist, and author, with more than 862,000 Instagram followers. Finnish intensive care physician Jenni Puoliväli is another influencer with almost 90,000 Instagram followers who has partnered with the agency.

Erik Vollebregt, a partner at Axon Lawyers, echoed EMA's point that as GLP-1s have become more popular, especially as a weight loss drug, the risk for misinformation, misuse of the drugs, and counterfeit products entering the market due to limited availability has increased significantly. He noted that this is the first time EMA has used social media influencers to spread public health communication.

"I think it's a sign of the EMA trying to reach people potentially at risk by informing them via the media through which they normally find their information about lifestyle and health choices," Vollebregt told Focus. "In my view, it's a good idea by the EMA to try and find people at risk on the media that they use.

"The problem is that people that have tentatively made up their mind are usually not that easily swayed by evidence-based scientifically correct information," he added. "I've seen the same issue with cosmetic fillers - people are willing to take considerable risks with unapproved products or treatment just to have the coveted results and can be so entrenched in bias that objective information will not convince them anymore."

Vollebregt lauded EMA's efforts to reach people directly through social media but said the campaign may face some hurdles to be effective.

"We'll just need to see whether the algorithms of the social media will not suppress objective information just because it is not perceived by the algorithm as just as engaging as misinformation or advertising of unsafe/counterfeit producers," he said. "This would need to be monitored by competent authorities and should perhaps be followed up under the Digital Services Act."

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EMA partners with Instagram influencers to counter GLP-1 misinformation

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