Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it releases its initial advice on the medications.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to this class of drugs.
Per projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to widespread access to the injections that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current best projected outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, through strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
The injections mimick a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the treatment, because their usual food cravings return.
To be carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for experiencing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
