Fewer than a tenth of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major barriers to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current most optimistic outlook, the production of such drugs would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation calls on governments and firms to increase access, by approaches like patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so individuals eat less.
Patients commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research points to people may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their usual food cravings return.
To be carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
