Under 10% of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial advice on the drugs.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the current most optimistic case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, through strategies such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the medication, as their normal food cravings return.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for developing health problems, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
