Less than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy have access to them, states the global health agency as it releases its initial recommendations on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Work
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the drug, when their normal hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
