Under one in 10 people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its first recommendations on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on estimates, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidance recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and ongoing support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key barriers to broad access to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the health organization.
The recommendation urges nations and manufacturers to widen availability, by strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main component of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost satiety so people reduce food intake.
People commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on a year later of halting the medication, because their typical food cravings resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your chance for developing health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
