Fewer than 10% of people who could benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy can access them, warns the World Health Organization as it publishes its first guidance on the medications.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Based on projections, over two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and lifelong support," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and supply-chain constraints are key hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the current most optimistic outlook, the production of these medications might only reach about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline urges nations and manufacturers to widen access, through measures like patent sharing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of countries in 2026.
The Way Obesity Jabs Function
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so people eat less.
Patients commonly see weight reduction within a few weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Studies indicates users may put most of the weight back on after a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their normal food cravings resume.
To be overweight or obese elevates your chance for contracting diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and some cancers.
Excess weight affects people in all nations and was responsible for over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
