GENEVA — Delegates at the 79th World Health Assembly moved Saturday to advance a draft resolution addressing the widening global equity gap in access to GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies, including semaglutide-based medicines such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, as the annual meeting at the Palais des Nations entered its fourth day of substantive sessions.

The proposed resolution, co-sponsored by a bloc of low- and middle-income countries led by South Africa, Brazil, and Bangladesh, calls on WHO member states to explore all available flexibilities under the TRIPS Agreement — including compulsory licensing — to enable domestic production of semaglutide and related compounds. Proponents argue that the medicines, now established as transformative treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, remain financially inaccessible to the vast majority of the world's population.

The push at the World Health Assembly comes amid intensifying media scrutiny of GLP-1 side effects, including emerging reports about the drugs' effects on women's hormonal health. Advocates say that unequal access is compounded by an information gap, with patients in wealthier countries better positioned to monitor and manage adverse effects than those in resource-limited settings. 'We cannot allow a two-tier world where rich nations debate the fine print of Ozempic side effects while our populations cannot afford a single dose,' said one delegate from a sub-Saharan African nation during Saturday's plenary.

Novo Nordisk and the European Union delegation signalled opposition to compulsory licensing language, arguing that intellectual property protections are essential to incentivising future pharmaceutical innovation. The company pointed to its existing access programme, which it says provides tiered pricing in 45 low-income countries. EU negotiators proposed an alternative amendment focusing on voluntary licensing agreements and technology transfer rather than mandatory provisions.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the assembly Saturday morning, urging member states to find consensus language before the close of the assembly later in the week. Health analysts tracking the negotiations said a compromise resolution — likely stripping the explicit compulsory licensing references in favour of broader language on 'access mechanisms' — was the most probable outcome, given resistance from high-income blocs. A final vote is expected before the assembly concludes on May 27.