Less than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it issues its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to broad access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the present most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through strategies including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their typical food cravings come back.
Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
