Under one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and continuous treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to widespread access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to increase availability, by strategies such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
Individuals commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the treatment, because their usual hunger come back.
To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
