Fewer than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, over two billion will be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and ongoing support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the supply of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline urges countries and companies to expand availability, by measures like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients typically start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests people may see weight return within a year of stopping the treatment, because their typical appetite return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your risk for contracting medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
