Under 10% of patients who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.
Considering over a billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, in excess of 2,000,000,000 could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and lifelong treatment," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, notes the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the present best projected case, the production of such drugs could only cover around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to expand availability, by approaches like licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost the sense of being full so individuals eat less.
Patients typically see weight reduction in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Studies suggests patients may see weight return a year later of halting the medication, when their normal appetite resume.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for experiencing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
