Less than one in 10 patients who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it releases its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, says the agency.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable case, the production of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to increase access, via measures like voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
These medications mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to users may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the drug, as their normal hunger return.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
