Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it releases its initial recommendations on the drugs.
With in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per forecasts, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with holistic and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the present most optimistic case, the production of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages countries and companies to expand availability, via strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so users eat less.
Individuals commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates patients may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, as their usual food cravings resume.
Being overweight or obese raises your risk for contracting medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
