Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and continuous support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, says the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand access, through measures including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so people eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Studies indicates patients may see weight return within a year of halting the treatment, because their normal appetite return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
