Fewer than 10% of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it releases its initial advice on the drugs.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, over two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even under the present best projected scenario, the supply of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by measures including voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Work
These medications imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests users may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their usual appetite return.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for contracting medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in every country and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
