Fewer than one in 10 people that would benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it releases its initial guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to estimates, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and continuous treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift significant weight, explains the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable case, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, through measures such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of a leading brand – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
These medications replicate a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research suggests people may regain a significant portion within a year of discontinuing the drug, when their normal food cravings resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your chance for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
