Fewer than one in 10 patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the present best projected scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to increase availability, via strategies such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
The injections mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals eat less.
Individuals usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research indicates users may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, as their typical hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for contracting diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
