Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural advice on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand access, by measures such as patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance satiety so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests users may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their usual appetite come back.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your chance for experiencing diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
