Under 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its initial recommendations on the medications.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the present best projected outlook, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The guideline urges countries and companies to increase availability, through measures such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so users eat less.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Studies indicates users may regain a significant portion within a year of stopping the treatment, as their normal food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
