Less than one in 10 individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most optimistic outlook, the production of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to expand availability, via approaches such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase feelings of fullness so people consume fewer calories.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence points to users may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the drug, as their usual hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for experiencing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
