Under 10% of individuals who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to universal access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to increase availability, via strategies including patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of a leading brand – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Operate
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests patients may see weight return a year later of halting the medication, because their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your risk for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
