Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first recommendations on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
According to forecasts, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidelines affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with comprehensive and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current most favorable scenario, the production of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to increase availability, by approaches such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Work
GLP-1 drugs replicate a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so people consume fewer calories.
People commonly begin shedding pounds after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates users may put most of the weight back on within a year of stopping the treatment, as their normal hunger resume.
To be carrying excess weight raises your likelihood for contracting diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity impacts individuals in every country and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
