Less than a tenth of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its initial advice on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and ongoing treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the current most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to increase availability, through measures such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
People commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates people may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their usual food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your risk for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
