Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its initial guidance on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic case, the production of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages countries and companies to increase availability, via measures including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
People usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Studies indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the drug, when their typical hunger resume.
Being overweight or obese raises your chance for developing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
