Less than a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.
With over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, over two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with holistic and lifelong care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major obstacles to broad availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, explains the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even under the current best projected scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice urges countries and companies to widen access, by measures such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost satiety so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to users may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the medication, when their usual food cravings resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for developing health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
