Less than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major barriers to broad access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, via approaches including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
These medications replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so people eat less.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the treatment, because their normal appetite come back.
Being above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
