Under a tenth of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its inaugural advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and lifelong treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to widespread availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The guideline encourages countries and companies to expand access, by strategies including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so people reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, because their typical food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
