Under 10% of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the therapies.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and ongoing care," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through approaches like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
These medications replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies suggests people may see weight return within a year of stopping the medication, when their normal hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
