Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first advice on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to expand access, by strategies like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests people may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the drug, because their typical hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
