Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its inaugural advice on the therapies.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for increased and just access to this class of drugs.
Per projections, over two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and ongoing care," remarked the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to widespread availability to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing considerable body mass, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Scarcity
Despite the current best projected case, the production of such drugs might only reach around 100 million people – under 10% of eligible patients, per the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand availability, by measures like voluntary licensing.
A patent on the active ingredient – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Obesity Injections Work
These medications imitate a natural hormone to slow digestion, suppress the appetite and increase satiety so individuals eat less.
People typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Evidence suggests users may regain a significant portion after a year of discontinuing the treatment, when their normal food cravings return.
To be above a healthy weight raises your risk for developing diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
