Less than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and continuous treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to broad access to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the production of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation calls on nations and manufacturers to expand access, via measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their usual food cravings come back.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for experiencing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
