Fewer than 10% of patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key barriers to broad access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The recommendation encourages nations and manufacturers to expand access, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so users consume fewer calories.
Individuals typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to people may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their normal hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
