Introduction: Policies aimed to reduce the burden of disease associated with obesity can reduce up to 76,000 new cases of non-communicable diseases per year. For every dollar (USD) invested in obesity prevention, up to $ 5.6 in financial benefits will be returned. Most of the care is comorbidity-centered instead of obesity-centered, and gaps are observed.

Objective: Mapping international coverage and financing strategies in OECD countries aimed to provide access for effective obesity management.

Methodology: Scoping Review based on Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) and Joanna Briggs Institute (2020) recommendations. The search was conducted between March and May 2021 in PubMed, Lilacs, Scopus, Web of Science, reference list of 10 articles, government websites, Google, and Google Scholar to identify gray literature. Inclusion criteria: articles in English or Spanish, no older than 11 years addressing coverage and financing of obesity treatments. Primary and secondary screening was carried out.

Results: N = 512 articles were identified, and n = 61 were included for a total of 12 OECD countries, 67.2% published after 2016. The international strategies adopted include recognition of obesity as a disease (scientific societies and clinical guidelines in Canada, USA, Colombia, Germany, France), coverage, and financing of short-term lifestyle interventions (including diet, physical activity), drug therapy, surgical treatment, and medium-long-term lifestyle interventions (multidisciplinary treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or long-term follow-up). Of the total countries analyzed, 91.6% provide coverage for some short-term intervention, and 75.0% for a medium-long-term intervention. All analyzed countries cover bariatric surgery, although with critical waiting lists, and only 41.6% of countries include some public financing scheme for drug coverage.

Conclusion: Countries present heterogeneous obesity treatment coverage standards. The initial step in the adequate provision of care and financing seems to be the recognition of obesity as a disease, since comparative better outcomes in the explored countries.