Less than one in 10 people that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, over two billion could be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and continuous treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the production of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand availability, through approaches such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients typically see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, because their usual food cravings return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
