Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy have access to them, states the global health agency as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the current best projected case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The guideline encourages nations and manufacturers to expand availability, through strategies including patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Patients typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Evidence indicates users may see weight return a year later of halting the drug, because their usual food cravings resume.
To be carrying excess weight increases your chance for developing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
