Under a tenth of people eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy can access them, warns the global health agency as it publishes its first advice on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable access to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong support," said its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable weight, explains the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Even in the current best projected case, the production of GLP-1 therapies could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, per the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to increase access, through measures like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Work
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so individuals consume fewer calories.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the treatment, when their typical food cravings resume.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for experiencing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
