Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like 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 classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and continuous treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to expand access, by approaches like patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
People typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests patients may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, as their typical hunger resume.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
