Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the global health agency as it issues its initial advice on the medications.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidance acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to universal availability to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the present most favorable outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation encourages countries and companies to expand availability, via strategies such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Evidence suggests patients may regain a significant portion a year later of stopping the treatment, when their typical food cravings return.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
