Under 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present most optimistic outlook, the supply of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages countries and companies to widen access, via strategies such as voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Research suggests people may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their normal hunger resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your chance for developing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
