Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it releases its initial recommendations on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
Per forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by measures including patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance satiety so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the drug, when their typical food cravings resume.
Being above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for contracting diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
