Less than 10% of people that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to universal availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The recommendation calls on governments and firms to increase access, via measures like voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Function
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, curb appetite and boost satiety so people eat less.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests users may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, as their usual hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
