Less than 10% of individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it releases its initial guidance on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages countries and companies to increase availability, via strategies such as patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the medication, because their usual appetite come back.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for developing medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
