Fewer than 10% of individuals who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its initial advice on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per projections, over two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are major barriers to widespread availability to the treatments that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the current most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The advice encourages governments and firms to expand availability, via strategies including licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
People commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Research points to people may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the medication, as their usual hunger resume.
Being carrying excess weight increases your chance for developing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific malignancies.
Obesity affects people in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
