Under one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the current most favorable case, the supply of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to widen availability, via strategies including voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research suggests users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for developing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
