Under 10% of people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to projections, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most favorable case, the production of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, through approaches including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
These medications mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
Individuals usually start to lose weight after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may see weight return a year later of stopping the drug, as their typical appetite return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
