Fewer than a tenth of individuals who could benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy can access them, caution the WHO as it issues its first advice on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide currently obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Based on estimates, more than two billion are projected to be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"Our latest guidance affirms that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be addressed with thorough and lifelong care," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are major barriers to broad availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing significant body mass, says the agency.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs could only cover about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The advice urges governments and firms to widen availability, via strategies like voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the primary component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is due to expire in several nations in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Jabs Function
The injections imitate a biological compound to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and boost feelings of fullness so users eat less.
People typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Evidence points to users may regain a significant portion a year later of halting the medication, because their typical hunger resume.
To be above a healthy weight increases your chance for developing medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight impacts people in every country and was associated with over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
