Less than one in 10 people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable scenario, the supply of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen access, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, because their typical appetite return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your chance for contracting health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity affects people in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
