Under one in 10 patients eligible to benefit from GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are able to get them, caution the global health agency as it publishes its first guidance on the drugs.
With more than one billion people worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging broader and more equitable access to these injectable treatments.
Based on projections, over two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 without intervention.
"The latest guidelines recognises that excess weight is a lifelong illness that can be managed with thorough and continuous treatment," stated its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, limited production capacity, and distribution challenges are significant hurdles to widespread availability to the injections that can assist patients in reducing considerable weight, explains the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Even in the present most optimistic case, the supply of such drugs would only suffice for approximately 100 million people – under 10% of the global need, per the health organization.
The advice calls on nations and manufacturers to expand access, through strategies including licensing agreements.
A patent on the active ingredient – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is due to expire in a number of nations in 2026.
The Way Obesity Drugs Operate
These medications replicate a body's own hormone to slow digestion, reduce hunger and enhance the sense of being full so people reduce food intake.
Patients typically begin shedding pounds within a few weeks of beginning the once-weekly jabs.
Studies points to users may regain a significant portion a year later of discontinuing the drug, when their usual hunger come back.
To be carrying excess weight elevates your likelihood for developing diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, brain attack, and some cancers.
Excess weight impacts people in all nations and was linked to millions of fatalities worldwide in 2024, per the WHO.
