Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on estimates, over two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to increase availability, via measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
People usually see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the medication, because their typical hunger resume.
Being above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
