Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and ongoing care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the production of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline urges countries and companies to increase access, by strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
The injections imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so individuals eat less.
Patients usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the drug, because their typical food cravings come back.
Being overweight or obese elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight affects individuals in every country and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
