Under one in 10 people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The latest guidance recognises that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be treated with thorough and lifelong treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are key barriers to widespread availability to the injections that can help people shift significant body mass, says the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the current most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The guideline encourages countries and companies to expand availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
The injections mimick a biological compound to reduce digestion speed, curb appetite and boost satiety so individuals eat less.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds after several weeks of beginning the weekly injections.
Research suggests patients may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the treatment, because their normal appetite come back.
To be above a healthy weight raises your chance for contracting diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
