Less than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and continuous support," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present best projected case, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to widen access, by measures such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so individuals consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to people may see weight return after a year of halting the drug, as their typical appetite return.
Being carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was linked to millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
