Fewer than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it releases its first recommendations on the drugs.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and ongoing care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present most favorable outlook, the supply of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to increase availability, by strategies including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and increase feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research indicates patients may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their normal hunger come back.
To be overweight or obese raises your risk for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
