Fewer than a tenth of patients who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, states the WHO as it releases its first recommendations on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to projections, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with comprehensive and continuous care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to widespread availability to the injections that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the production of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to expand availability, via measures such as patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Function
These medications replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Patients typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research suggests patients may put most of the weight back on within a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their usual appetite come back.
Being overweight or obese raises your risk for contracting diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
