Fewer than a tenth of people that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the present best projected scenario, the supply of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to expand access, by strategies including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users eat less.
People usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Studies suggests patients may see weight return within a year of stopping the drug, because their typical hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
