Fewer than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the drugs.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable weight, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the present best projected case, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover around 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to increase access, through strategies including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase satiety so people eat less.
People typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research suggests users may see weight return within a year of halting the treatment, as their typical hunger return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your risk for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
