Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it publishes its first recommendations on the therapies.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with thorough and ongoing treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to broad access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even in the present most optimistic case, the production of such drugs would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to widen availability, via measures such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may see weight return within a year of stopping the treatment, when their usual hunger resume.
Being above a healthy weight raises your risk for developing medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
