Less than 10% of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Based on forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and continuous care," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to universal access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial weight, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to increase access, via approaches like patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so people consume fewer calories.
People commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the treatment, because their normal appetite come back.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your chance for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in every country and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
