Fewer than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the therapies.
Considering over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines recognises that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen access, through strategies such as patent sharing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
The injections replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so users eat less.
Patients commonly begin shedding pounds after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, as their typical hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
