Less than a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with thorough and continuous care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift substantial weight, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to widen availability, by strategies like licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Operate
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Evidence indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the medication, when their usual appetite return.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
