Less than 10% of people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it issues its initial guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable scenario, the production of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to expand access, through measures like licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
The injections mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and boost feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, when their typical food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in all nations and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
