Under one in 10 people eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the drugs.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong support," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the current most optimistic outlook, the production of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by measures such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
Individuals usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their normal hunger return.
Being overweight or obese increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity impacts individuals in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
