Under a tenth of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its first guidance on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present most optimistic case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to increase availability, through measures such as licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research indicates people may see weight return a year later of halting the treatment, as their normal appetite come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for developing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
