Fewer than one in 10 patients who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy can access them, warns the WHO as it releases its initial guidance on the drugs.
Given over a billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is advocating for more widespread and fairer access to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, in excess of 2,000,000,000 are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidelines acknowledges that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with comprehensive and continuous support," remarked WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Substantial prices, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are major obstacles to widespread access to the injections that can aid individuals in losing significant weight, notes the agency.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present best projected outlook, the production of such drugs could only cover approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of those who need them, per the WHO.
The guideline urges countries and companies to increase availability, through measures like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on a key compound – the core ingredient of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of countries in 2026.
How Weight-Loss Injections Operate
These medications mimick a natural hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so users reduce food intake.
Individuals usually see weight reduction in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Studies indicates people may put most of the weight back on a year later of stopping the medication, as their normal appetite come back.
To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and some malignancies.
Excess weight concerns people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
