Less than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the medications.
Considering in excess of 1,000,000,000 people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to these injectable treatments.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with thorough and ongoing support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift substantial weight, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even under the present best projected outlook, the production of GLP-1 therapies would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of the global need, per the WHO.
The recommendation urges countries and companies to widen availability, via approaches such as licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on the active ingredient – the main component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
How Obesity Jabs Work
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and boost the sense of being full so individuals reduce food intake.
Patients usually start to lose weight within a few weeks of commencing the regular doses.
Research points to patients may put most of the weight back on after a year of halting the treatment, when their normal appetite return.
To be carrying excess weight increases your risk for experiencing diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Obesity affects individuals in countries worldwide and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
