Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and ongoing treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable outlook, the production of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand access, through measures including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Patients usually start to lose weight after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates users may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the treatment, as their normal hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
