Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and ongoing support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by approaches such as licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your risk for contracting medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
