Less than 10% of individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal access to the jabs that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the supply of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through measures including patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
People typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests patients may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the treatment, because their normal appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
