Less than 10% of people who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and continuous treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major hurdles to broad access to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, says the body.
GLP-1 Therapy Shortage
Despite the present most optimistic scenario, the manufacturing of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The recommendation urges governments and firms to widen access, through strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the primary ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Function
These medications imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, reduce hunger and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates patients may regain a significant portion within a year of discontinuing the drug, because their usual food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for experiencing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
