Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the current most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to expand access, through strategies like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so users eat less.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds after several weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates people may see weight return within a year of stopping the treatment, because their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your risk for experiencing health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
