Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.
With 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.
Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to universal access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the present best projected outlook, the production of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on countries and companies to widen access, by strategies including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
The injections replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies points to users may regain a significant portion after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
