Less than one in 10 individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it issues its inaugural recommendations on the drugs.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable availability to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines recognises that obesity is a chronic disease that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and logistical bottlenecks are major barriers to broad access to the jabs that can help people shift significant weight, says the organization.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even in the present most favorable scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The advice calls on governments and firms to expand access, via measures including licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the primary component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Drugs Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to patients may regain a significant portion after a year of stopping the drug, because their usual food cravings come back.
To be overweight or obese raises your risk for developing health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Obesity affects people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
