Less than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and continuous treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on countries and companies to expand availability, by strategies like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so individuals eat less.
People typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates people may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, as their usual appetite resume.
Being overweight or obese elevates your risk for contracting medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
