Fewer than 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and lifelong support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to widespread access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
People typically see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research points to people may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the drug, when their normal hunger come back.
To be carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
