Under a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it issues its initial recommendations on the medications.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, by measures including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
People usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates people may see weight return a year later of halting the treatment, because their usual appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for contracting diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
