Fewer than a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it issues its initial guidance on the drugs.
Given over a billion people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for increased and just availability to these injectable treatments.
Per forecasts, over two billion will be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and ongoing treatment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to broad availability to the jabs that can help people shift significant body mass, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current most optimistic outlook, the supply of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to widen access, by measures like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests patients may see weight return a year later of halting the medication, as their usual appetite resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your chance for experiencing health problems, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight affects individuals in all nations and was responsible for millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
