Less than 10% of patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it releases its first guidance on the drugs.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and continuous treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the current best projected outlook, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The advice urges governments and firms to increase access, through strategies like licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
The injections replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence points to people may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the medication, when their normal hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
