Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its initial advice on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key barriers to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The guideline calls on governments and firms to expand availability, via strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their normal appetite come back.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for contracting diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
