Less than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current best projected outlook, the supply of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The recommendation encourages governments and firms to increase access, through approaches such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
The injections replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and enhance satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the drug, as their normal appetite return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
