Fewer than one in 10 patients who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its first advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with thorough and lifelong treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to expand access, through strategies like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Operate
These medications mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the medication, as their usual appetite resume.
To be carrying excess weight increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
