Less than 10% of individuals that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and ongoing support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, notes the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the current most favorable case, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to widen access, via strategies such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Operate
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
Patients usually start to lose weight after several weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Research points to people may see weight return within a year of halting the treatment, as their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for developing diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
