Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy have access to them, states the WHO as it issues its first guidance on the medications.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are major barriers to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The advice encourages countries and companies to widen access, via approaches like voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Work
The injections mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and increase satiety so users consume fewer calories.
People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research suggests people may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the medication, because their usual appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your risk for experiencing diseases, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
