Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it releases its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just access to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and continuous care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the current most favorable case, the production of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to expand access, via approaches such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
The injections imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so users eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the treatment, as their normal food cravings come back.
To be overweight or obese raises your risk for contracting diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
