Fewer than 10% of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are key obstacles to broad access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable outlook, the manufacturing of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to increase availability, by strategies like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users eat less.
Patients usually see weight reduction after several weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research points to patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their normal hunger come back.
Being overweight or obese elevates your likelihood for experiencing health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in all nations and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
