Under 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the current most optimistic scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The guideline urges countries and companies to expand access, via strategies like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the treatment, because their typical hunger resume.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
