How to Get Obesity Treatment in Czechia When You Don't Have a Czech GP

Most guides to weight-loss treatment in the Czech Republic quietly assume something that is not true for foreign residents: that you have a praktický lékař, a registered general practitioner who knows you, can examine you and can refer you onwards. Hundreds of thousands of people here do not.

More than half a million people in Czechia are not registered with a GP, and about 65% of them are foreign nationals – roughly 360,000 people (expats.cz). If you are one of them and you want your weight treated as the medical problem it is, the question is not "which specialist should I ask my GP about" but "how do I reach a doctor at all".

Why so many foreign residents have no GP

Nobody is deliberately excluded, but several things stack up. Practices in the larger cities are frequently full and stop accepting new patients. Registration is easy to postpone when you are healthy, new here, or expecting to stay a couple of years. Consultations mostly happen in Czech during working hours. And if you hold a commercial foreigner policy rather than public insurance, it is worth asking a practice directly before you count on registering there – what those policies do and do not cover is set out in Czech health insurance and weight-loss medication.

The result is a large, tax-paying population whose only contact with Czech healthcare is the occasional urgent-care visit. That works fine until you need something the system routes through a GP.

The standard route to obesity treatment, and where it breaks down

In theory, treatment for obesity here follows a well-organised path:

1. You see your GP, who measures you, runs basic blood tests and rules out other causes.
2. The GP refers you to an obesity specialist (obezitolog) or an internal medicine clinic.
3. The specialist proposes a plan: dietary and behavioural measures, possibly pharmacotherapy, in some cases surgery.

For a Czech patient registered since childhood, that works. For a foreign resident, step one does not exist and the sequence stalls before it starts. Even where a practice will take you, the appointment is likely to be in Czech, at a time you are supposed to be at work, followed by a waiting list at a specialist centre.

That system is good at what it does, and for complicated cases – long histories of failed treatment, serious comorbidities, consideration of bariatric surgery – a specialist obesity centre is exactly where you should end up. Czech centres are listed by the Czech Obesity Society (in Czech). The problem is not the destination; it is that most foreigners cannot reach the on-ramp.

What you actually need in order to be treated

Less than people assume. To assess whether medical weight-loss treatment is appropriate, a doctor needs your medical history, current medication, measurements and an honest conversation – not a registration card down the road.

GoOn is built around that reality: you are assessed directly by a licensed Czech doctor, by video, in English, with no GP registration and no referral. If treatment is indicated, the doctor issues a standard Czech electronic prescription and you collect medication at a pharmacy like any other patient here.

Two honest caveats. This route is for weight management, not a replacement for general practice care – register with a GP for everything else. And remote assessment has limits: if your history suggests an examination or blood tests are needed, the doctor will say so rather than prescribe around it.

How the direct-to-doctor route works

1. Online questionnaire. Health history, medication, previous weight-loss attempts, goals. Roughly ten minutes, in English.
2. Video consultation with a Czech doctor in English. A real clinical conversation: the doctor reviews your answers, asks what the form could not, and decides whether treatment is appropriate.
3. eRecept, if treatment is indicated. A Czech electronic prescription issued into the national system. No Czech insurance number needed – you are identified by name and date of birth. See our eRecept guide.
4. Pharmacy collection. Any pharmacy in the country, using your prescription code. Prescription medicines are not posted to patients here – under the Medicines Act (Act No. 378/2007 Sb.) distance selling by Czech pharmacies covers over-the-counter products only, so mail order of prescription-only medicines is illegal in the Czech Republic (SÚKL; the warning signs are in our guide to illegal online pharmacies).
5. Follow-ups. Dose adjustments, side-effect management and the unglamorous long-term part that decides the outcome.

To find out whether treatment is appropriate in your situation, complete the questionnaire and discuss it with a doctor online. The doctor decides, not the form.

What the doctor assesses, and why they may say no

Worth understanding before you start: a consultation is an assessment, not a formality.

The doctor looks at your BMI (check yours with our BMI calculator) and at what comes with it. The EU-authorised indication for this class of medicines covers a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 and above with at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, abnormal blood lipids or sleep apnoea (EMA product information). The number opens the conversation; it does not settle it.

They also review contraindications and risks: pregnancy or breastfeeding, certain thyroid conditions in personal or family history, previous disease of the pancreas, eating disorders, other medication, and your general health. The full list of contraindications and warnings is in the EU product information (EMA) and in the summary of product characteristics available through SÚKL. Modern weight-loss medicines have real side effects: digestive complaints such as nausea, constipation or diarrhoea are very common, particularly at the start and after each dose increase, while serious complications such as inflammation of the pancreas are uncommon but need immediate medical attention (the class side-effect profile is set out with sources in our comparison of GLP-1 medicines). Those are weighed against the expected benefit for you specifically.

So yes, a doctor may decline treatment, ask for an examination first, or conclude that a different approach suits you better. That possibility is not a flaw in the process; it is the reason the process exists. What treatment can realistically achieve is covered in our guide to weight-loss injections in the Czech Republic.

Consultations in English, with no language surcharge

Language is where this quietly gets expensive. Finding an English-speaking doctor in Prague for a weight problem is possible, but some private clinics that market to international patients charge a foreign-language surcharge on top of an already private fee – check the clinic's published price list before booking. Repeat any such fee across treatment measured in months and it stops being trivial.

With GoOn there is no language surcharge: the consultation happens in English because that is the service, and you pay what a Czech patient pays. There are city guides for Prague and Brno, and if you began treatment abroad before relocating, read continuing treatment after moving to Czechia.

What it costs, and what your insurance covers

Two separate costs. You pay GoOn only for the consultations with the doctor; medication is bought at the pharmacy and costs roughly 2,000–6,000 CZK per month at starting doses depending on product and dose (cost breakdown), with the pharmacy confirming the exact figure.

Your insurance almost certainly will not cover the medication, and that is not discrimination against foreigners: your policy covers what public health insurance covers, and weight-loss medicines are not publicly reimbursed here. Czech citizens pay out of pocket exactly as you do. Detail in Czech health insurance and weight-loss medication.

Frequently asked questions

Can I see a doctor in the Czech Republic without being registered with a GP? Yes. Registration with a general practitioner is not a precondition for being assessed by a licensed Czech doctor, and this route needs no GP and no referral. Roughly 360,000 foreign residents here have no registered GP (expats.cz). For general and preventive care, registering with a practice is still worth doing.

Where do I find an English-speaking doctor in Prague for weight loss? Private clinics in Prague do offer appointments in English, usually at private rates and sometimes with a language surcharge. An online consultation with a Czech doctor in English is the other option, and works identically wherever you live. Either way, check you are being assessed by a licensed physician rather than sold a package.

Do I need a Czech insurance number to get a prescription? No. On a Czech electronic prescription you are identified by name and date of birth. Bring your prescription code to the pharmacy, because the counter's ID-card lookup depends on Czech identity and insurance records and frequently returns nothing for non-residents (details in our eRecept guide; the national system is described at epreskripce.gov.cz).

Does Czech health insurance pay for obesity treatment? Consultations and medication for weight management are self-pay for everybody here: your policy covers what public health insurance covers, and these medicines are not on the reimbursed list (Czech health insurance and weight-loss medication). Related care, such as investigating weight-related conditions, may be covered if you are in the public system.

Is an online consultation as thorough as an in-person visit? For an initial weight-management assessment it is a genuine clinical consultation, with the same history-taking and duty of care. It has limits: where an examination or blood tests are needed, the doctor asks for them first, and may decline to treat remotely.