Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from weight-loss injections like Wegovy have access to them, states the World Health Organization as it releases its first guidance on the drugs.
With over a billion people worldwide now living with obesity, it is urging broader and more equitable availability to this class of drugs.
Per projections, more than two billion could be obese by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines affirms that obesity is a long-term condition that can be addressed with holistic and lifelong support," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to widespread access to the jabs that can help people shift significant body mass, notes the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Even in the present best projected outlook, the manufacturing of such drugs might only reach approximately 100 million people – less than 10% of the global need, according to the health organization.
The advice urges countries and companies to increase access, by strategies like patent sharing.
A patent on semaglutide – the core component of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Injections Operate
The injections imitate a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, curb appetite and enhance satiety so users consume fewer calories.
Individuals commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of starting on the weekly injections.
Evidence indicates users may see weight return after a year of discontinuing the medication, because their usual food cravings come back.
To be overweight or obese increases your likelihood for experiencing health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity concerns individuals in every country and was associated with millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
