Fewer than 10% of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now obese, it is urging increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to broad availability to the jabs that can help people shift significant weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to increase access, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
The injections mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research indicates people may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the drug, when their typical hunger return.
To be overweight or obese raises your chance for contracting diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
