Fewer than 10% of people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the present most optimistic scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to increase availability, through strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
These medications imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests patients may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the treatment, because their normal appetite resume.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
