Fewer than a tenth of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the WHO as it issues its initial recommendations on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the current best projected scenario, the supply of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to increase access, through approaches like licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests people may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the treatment, as their typical food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your chance for experiencing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
