Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its first advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The recommendation calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through measures like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the medication, because their usual appetite resume.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
