Fewer than one in 10 patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and continuous care," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to broad access to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Despite the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to expand availability, through strategies such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so users eat less.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the medication, when their typical hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
