Fewer than one in 10 people that would benefit from GLP-1 drugs including Wegovy have access to them, caution the World Health Organization as it issues its initial guidance on the therapies.
With more than one billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per forecasts, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and lifelong support," remarked its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key obstacles to universal availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic case, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The guideline calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, through strategies such as licensing agreements.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Function
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their normal appetite resume.
Being above a healthy weight raises your risk for developing medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was linked to 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the health agency.
