Under a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable weight, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to widen availability, via strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so users consume fewer calories.
People typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence points to users may see weight return within a year of halting the medication, when their usual hunger return.
To be overweight or obese raises your likelihood for developing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
