Fewer than 10% of patients who could benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it issues its initial guidance on the medications.
Given in excess of 1,000,000,000 individuals worldwide now obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
According to projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be managed with holistic and lifelong treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are significant hurdles to broad availability to the treatments that can assist patients in reducing significant weight, explains the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even in the present best projected scenario, the manufacturing of these medications would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, per the health organization.
The guideline urges governments and firms to expand availability, by approaches including voluntary licensing.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in several countries in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Operate
These medications replicate a biological compound to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost satiety so people reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight after several weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to users may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the drug, because their typical food cravings come back.
Being above a healthy weight elevates your chance for developing health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns people in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million deaths worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
