Less than one in 10 patients that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the global health agency as it issues its inaugural guidance on the medications.
Given more than one billion individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for increased and just availability to this class of drugs.
According to projections, more than two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our latest guidelines affirms that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be addressed with thorough and continuous support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and distribution challenges are significant obstacles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial body mass, explains the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Despite the current most optimistic outlook, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for about 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on countries and companies to expand availability, by approaches like patent sharing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Function
The injections mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so people eat less.
People usually start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence indicates users may see weight return after a year of stopping the medication, when their usual hunger return.
Being carrying excess weight raises your chance for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain cancers.
Obesity impacts individuals in all nations and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
