Fewer than 10% of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its inaugural recommendations on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with comprehensive and lifelong care," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to widespread availability to the jabs that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the current most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen availability, through strategies including patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on the active ingredient – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly see weight reduction after several weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to people may regain a significant portion within a year of halting the drug, because their normal food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
