Fewer than 10% of individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to widen availability, by measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Work
The injections imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests people may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the drug, because their typical food cravings come back.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in every country and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
