Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it releases its initial guidance on the therapies.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to widespread access to the treatments that can help people shift significant weight, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen access, through measures including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
Individuals usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests people may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the drug, as their typical appetite come back.
To be overweight or obese raises your chance for developing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
