Under 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the present best projected scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The recommendation calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by strategies such as licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
These medications imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, because their typical appetite come back.
Being overweight or obese raises your risk for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
