Under 10% of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its first advice on the therapies.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and ongoing treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to universal access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present most optimistic outlook, the supply of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase satiety so users consume fewer calories.
People usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence points to patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the medication, when their normal food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
