Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Based on projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to widespread access to the jabs that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to increase availability, by strategies including voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research points to users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the drug, when their normal hunger return.
To be carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight affects people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
