Under one in 10 individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it releases its first advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to expand access, by measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
The injections replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies suggests users may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the treatment, because their usual appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
