Less than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it issues its initial recommendations on the drugs.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging increased and just access to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key obstacles to broad access to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic case, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline urges countries and companies to increase availability, via measures such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Studies points to users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the drug, as their usual food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your chance for developing medical conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
