Under a tenth of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it releases its first recommendations on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key barriers to universal availability to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable 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 encourages governments and firms to expand access, by approaches including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the core component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and enhance satiety so people eat less.
People commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the drug, when their typical appetite come back.
Being overweight or obese elevates your likelihood for contracting health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity impacts people in every country and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
