Under 10% of patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the current best projected scenario, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to widen availability, via strategies such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Work
These medications imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals usually start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may see weight return after a year of stopping the treatment, as their usual food cravings come back.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for developing health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.