Less than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial advice on the medications.
Given over a billion people worldwide now obese, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Based on forecasts, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines recognises that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and ongoing support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad access to the jabs that can help people shift significant body mass, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even in the current best projected outlook, the supply of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to widen availability, through strategies such as patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Work
The injections replicate a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of starting on the regular doses.
Studies points to patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the treatment, because their usual food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for experiencing diseases, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects individuals in all nations and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
