Less than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial advice on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
Based on projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and ongoing care," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges countries and companies to expand access, via approaches like licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase feelings of fullness so users eat less.
Individuals commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Research suggests users may see weight return within a year of stopping the drug, when their usual hunger come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for experiencing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
