Fewer than 10% of patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to broad access to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to increase access, by strategies like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Function
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and increase satiety so individuals reduce food intake.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies points to patients may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the treatment, as their typical hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
