Fewer than one in 10 people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its first advice on the drugs.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidance affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the production of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges governments and firms to widen access, through approaches including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so users eat less.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests users may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their normal appetite return.
Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
