Under one in 10 individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, states the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The advice encourages countries and companies to widen access, via strategies including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
These medications replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Studies points to users may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their usual food cravings return.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your chance for developing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
