Fewer than a tenth of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable case, the production of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, by strategies including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Work
These medications mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Studies suggests users may regain a significant portion within a year of stopping the treatment, because their normal appetite resume.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your chance for experiencing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
