Less than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the drugs.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
According to estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and ongoing support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to widespread access to the jabs that can help people shift significant weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, via strategies such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
The injections replicate a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so users reduce food intake.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the drug, because their usual hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for contracting health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
