Under one in 10 people who could benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it publishes its initial advice on the therapies.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with holistic and lifelong treatment," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are key obstacles to broad availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing substantial weight, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the present best projected outlook, the supply of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline encourages governments and firms to expand access, through strategies such as voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to people may put most of the weight back on after a year of stopping the medication, because their normal food cravings come back.
To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some cancers.
Obesity affects people in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
