Fewer than 10% of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, explains the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the present most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase satiety so users reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the treatment, because their usual appetite resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your risk for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
