Fewer than one in 10 people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, caution the WHO as it issues its inaugural guidance on the therapies.
Considering more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are significant barriers to widespread availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, says the organization.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the present most favorable scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for around 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The guideline calls on governments and firms to increase availability, by measures such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the main component of a leading brand – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs imitate a biological compound to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to patients may see weight return within a year of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical food cravings resume.
To be above a healthy weight raises your likelihood for contracting health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in all nations and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
