Less than a tenth of patients that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy can access them, states the WHO as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
Per forecasts, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong treatment," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of these medications could only cover about 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The advice calls on countries and companies to increase availability, through approaches such as patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the primary ingredient of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
These medications mimick a natural hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and boost satiety so users eat less.
Patients commonly see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Evidence suggests patients may see weight return after a year of halting the medication, because their typical hunger come back.
To be overweight or obese increases your chance for experiencing health problems, like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
