Fewer than one in 10 individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major barriers to universal access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable case, the production of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so users eat less.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the treatment, as their typical appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
