Under one in 10 people eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it issues its inaugural advice on the therapies.
With over a billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidance recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing substantial body mass, says the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to increase access, via approaches including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so people eat less.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Evidence suggests patients may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their normal food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your risk for contracting medical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
