Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging increased and just access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to broad availability to the treatments that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen access, by strategies such as voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
People commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Evidence points to people may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, as their normal food cravings resume.
Being overweight or obese increases your risk for contracting diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
