Fewer than a tenth of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it releases its first guidance on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and ongoing treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are major hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Even under the present most favorable case, the supply of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the WHO.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen availability, through approaches like licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Drugs Function
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
People usually see weight reduction within a few weeks of beginning the regular doses.
Evidence points to patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the treatment, when their typical appetite resume.
To be overweight or obese increases your risk for developing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
