Fewer than 10% of people who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it releases its initial advice on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and continuous treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to expand access, through approaches such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
These medications mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Research suggests people may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the treatment, because their usual hunger come back.
Being above a healthy weight increases your chance for experiencing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
