Less than a tenth of individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and lifelong care," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to increase access, through approaches such as licensing agreements.
A patent on semaglutide – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications imitate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates users may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the medication, because their normal food cravings return.
Being above a healthy weight increases your risk for developing diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
