Less than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to expand access, via strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies points to users may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, as their normal appetite come back.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
