Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial advice on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide now obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to universal availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to expand access, by strategies including voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Function
The injections replicate a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Evidence points to users may regain a significant portion within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your risk for developing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
