Less than 10% of people that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its inaugural guidance on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidance recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift substantial weight, explains the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Despite the current most optimistic outlook, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice encourages nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through strategies such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
People commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests people may see weight return within a year of stopping the medication, because their typical food cravings resume.
Being overweight or obese raises your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
