Under a tenth of people who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the WHO as it publishes its inaugural advice on the medications.
Considering over a billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer access to GLP-1 medication.
Per projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and continuous treatment," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant barriers to universal access to the treatments that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the agency.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Despite the current best projected scenario, the production of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to expand access, through approaches such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Work
GLP-1 drugs mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so people consume fewer calories.
Individuals usually begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence suggests patients may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for contracting diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
