Less than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first advice on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with holistic and continuous care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand access, via approaches including patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the medication, as their usual hunger come back.
Being overweight or obese increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
