Under a tenth of patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be managed with comprehensive and lifelong care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to broad access to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Despite the present best projected scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach about 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The recommendation encourages governments and firms to increase access, by measures such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and increase feelings of fullness so people reduce food intake.
Individuals typically see weight reduction after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may see weight return after a year of stopping the medication, because their usual food cravings come back.
Being above a healthy weight increases your risk for experiencing medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
