Under one in 10 individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the WHO as it issues its first recommendations on the therapies.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and ongoing care," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to widespread access to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even under the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The recommendation calls on governments and firms to increase access, through approaches such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
These medications imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates people may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the drug, as their usual hunger come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for experiencing medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
