Under 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, caution the WHO as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present best projected case, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the health organization.
The advice urges countries and companies to increase availability, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
The injections imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase satiety so people reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to people may see weight return within a year of stopping the drug, as their usual food cravings come back.
Being overweight or obese increases your chance for contracting health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
