Fewer than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it releases its initial guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and continuous treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present best projected scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to expand availability, through measures including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of a leading brand – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the treatment, because their usual appetite return.
Being overweight or obese increases your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
