Fewer than 10% of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to universal availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even under the current best projected outlook, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
The injections mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so individuals eat less.
Individuals usually see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, when their usual food cravings resume.
Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
