Fewer than one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from obesity jabs like Wegovy have access to them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial recommendations on the therapies.
Given over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is calling for more widespread and fairer availability to this class of drugs.
Per estimates, over two billion will be obese by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance acknowledges that obesity is a lifelong illness that can be addressed with thorough and continuous care," stated the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and logistical bottlenecks are key hurdles to broad availability to the injections that can help people shift considerable body mass, notes the body.
Weight-Loss Drug Scarcity
Even under the current most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs would only suffice for about 100 million people – less than 10% of those who need them, according to the health organization.
The guideline calls on countries and companies to increase availability, via measures like licensing agreements.
Exclusive production rights on semaglutide – the core component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Operate
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
People usually start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates users may see weight return a year later of halting the drug, as their typical appetite resume.
Being above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for developing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, stroke, and specific malignancies.
Obesity affects people in countries worldwide and was associated with 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
