Fewer than a tenth of patients that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its first advice on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Despite the present best projected case, the manufacturing of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to increase access, through strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients typically see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence points to people may regain a significant portion within a year of stopping the drug, because their normal appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese raises your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
