Less than 10% of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural advice on the drugs.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to expand availability, through measures like voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Work
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so users consume fewer calories.
People usually see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence points to people may see weight return within a year of halting the medication, because their normal hunger return.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for contracting diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
