Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Given over a billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are key obstacles to universal access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the current best projected scenario, the supply of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, via measures like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly see weight reduction after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests people may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their usual food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your risk for developing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in every country and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
