Fewer than 10% of individuals eligible to benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the World Health Organization as it publishes its initial recommendations on the drugs.
Given over a billion individuals worldwide now classified as obese, it is calling for broader and more equitable access to this class of drugs.
According to projections, more than two billion will be living with obesity by 2030 unless action is taken.
"The new guidelines acknowledges that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be treated with holistic and lifelong support," stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, insufficient output, and supply-chain constraints are significant obstacles to widespread availability to the treatments that can aid individuals in losing considerable weight, says the organization.
Weight-Loss Drug Shortage
Despite the current best projected case, the production of these medications might only reach approximately 100 million people – under 10% of those who need them, as stated by the WHO.
The advice urges nations and manufacturers to expand access, by measures such as voluntary licensing.
The intellectual property rights on semaglutide – the core ingredient of a leading brand – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Work
These medications mimick a body's own hormone to delay gastric emptying, suppress the appetite and increase the sense of being full so users consume fewer calories.
People typically start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the once-weekly jabs.
Research points to users may see weight return a year later of halting the drug, when their typical hunger return.
To be above a healthy weight increases your likelihood for contracting health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, brain attack, and specific cancers.
Obesity affects people in countries worldwide and was linked to over three and a half million fatalities worldwide in 2024, according to the health agency.
