Less than 10% of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections including Wegovy can access them, states the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is urging increased and just access to GLP-1 medication.
According to forecasts, over two billion could be obese by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and ongoing treatment," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift significant weight, notes the body.
Skinny Jab Scarcity
Even under the present most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies might only reach around 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, according to the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to increase availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in multiple countries in 2026.
How Obesity Drugs Operate
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost feelings of fullness so users consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Studies suggests people may put most of the weight back on within a year of halting the drug, as their normal appetite return.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for contracting health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the WHO.
