Fewer than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it releases its initial advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to widespread access to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, says the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the current best projected case, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline urges governments and firms to increase availability, by approaches such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of a leading brand – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
People usually begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the treatment, because their usual hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for experiencing medical conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
