Under 10% of people that would benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it issues its initial advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per projections, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major barriers to universal availability to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to expand availability, through approaches such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so people eat less.
Patients usually see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the medication, as their usual appetite return.
Being carrying excess weight increases your risk for developing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
