Fewer than 10% of individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its inaugural guidance on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the present best projected scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to widen availability, by measures including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase the sense of being full so users eat less.
People usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Research indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the drug, when their normal hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight raises your risk for developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Obesity concerns people in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
