Under a tenth of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it issues its first guidance on the therapies.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and lifelong care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to widen availability, through strategies including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Patients usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence suggests patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the medication, when their normal hunger resume.
Being above a healthy weight raises your chance for contracting medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in every country and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
