Under one in 10 patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first advice on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to increase access, by strategies including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the treatment, as their usual hunger come back.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for contracting health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
