Under one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
Considering more than one billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, more than two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our new guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with comprehensive and continuous care," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are major hurdles to universal availability to the jabs that can help people shift considerable body mass, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Supply Crisis
Even under the present most favorable outlook, the supply of these medications could only cover approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice encourages governments and firms to expand availability, by strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Function
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so people eat less.
People commonly begin shedding pounds 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 treatment, as their usual appetite return.
To be above a healthy weight elevates your likelihood for developing medical conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and specific cancers.
Excess weight impacts individuals in every country and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
