Fewer than a tenth of patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it releases its first guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and continuous care," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the supply of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen availability, by approaches like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people eat less.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research points to patients may regain a significant portion within a year of discontinuing the drug, because their usual appetite resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
