Under one in 10 individuals that would benefit from weight-loss injections such as Wegovy can access them, states the World Health Organization as it publishes its first recommendations on the medications.
With over a billion individuals worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Based on estimates, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidance acknowledges that obesity is a chronic disease that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are significant barriers to broad access to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing significant body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the present most favorable scenario, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to increase availability, by strategies such as licensing agreements.
A patent on semaglutide – the main ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
The injections mimick a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance satiety so users consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to patients may see weight return a year later of stopping the treatment, because their normal hunger return.
Being above a healthy weight raises your risk for experiencing diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, as per the WHO.
