Under one in 10 patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and lifelong support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, via measures such as licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research points to patients may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their typical food cravings return.
Being overweight or obese increases your risk for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in all nations and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
