Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to widespread access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to widen access, by measures such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance satiety so users reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to people may see weight return after a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their usual food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for developing health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
