Under 10% of people who could benefit from obesity jabs such as Wegovy are able to get them, caution the WHO as it publishes its inaugural guidance on the drugs.
Given more than one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, it is advocating for broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
According to estimates, over two billion are projected to be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"Our new guidance affirms that obesity is a chronic disease that can be managed with thorough and continuous treatment," said the agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
High costs, constrained manufacturing, and logistical bottlenecks are significant obstacles to universal availability to the jabs that can assist patients in reducing substantial body mass, explains the agency.
GLP-1 Therapy Supply Crisis
Even in the current best projected case, the manufacturing of GLP-1 therapies could only cover around 100 million people – less than 10% of eligible patients, according to the health organization.
The advice calls on countries and companies to expand availability, via measures like patent sharing.
A patent on a key compound – the main ingredient of a leading brand – is scheduled to end in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Jabs Operate
GLP-1 drugs mimick a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, suppress the appetite and enhance satiety so users reduce food intake.
Patients commonly start to lose weight in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research indicates users may see weight return a year later of discontinuing the medication, because their typical hunger come back.
Being carrying excess weight increases your likelihood for experiencing health problems, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in every country and was responsible for millions of deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
