Under one in 10 people that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial guidance on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Per projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to universal access to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the present most optimistic outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, via measures like patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
The injections imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Evidence points to people may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the medication, when their typical food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
