Under one in 10 patients who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its initial advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present best projected case, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to increase access, by approaches including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies suggests patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the treatment, when their normal hunger come back.
To be overweight or obese elevates your risk for contracting medical conditions, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
