Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present most optimistic case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen availability, via approaches including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.
People usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research indicates people may regain a significant portion within a year of stopping the medication, because their normal food cravings return.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
