Fewer than one in 10 individuals that would benefit from obesity jabs including Wegovy are able to get them, warns the global health agency as it issues its initial guidance on the drugs.
Considering over a billion individuals worldwide currently classified as obese, it is urging more widespread and fairer availability to GLP-1 medication.
Per estimates, more than two billion could be living with obesity by 2030 if no action is taken.
"Our latest guidance recognises that excess weight is a long-term condition that can be treated with holistic and ongoing care," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Significant expense, insufficient output, and distribution challenges are key barriers to universal availability to the jabs that can aid individuals in losing considerable body mass, says the body.
Skinny Jab Supply Crisis
Despite the current most optimistic scenario, the supply of GLP-1 therapies might only reach approximately 100 million people – fewer than 10% of eligible patients, as stated by the WHO.
The recommendation calls on countries and companies to widen access, via approaches including licensing agreements.
The intellectual property rights on a key compound – the main component of the drug Wegovy – is set to lapse in multiple nations in 2026.
The Way Weight-Loss Injections Operate
The injections replicate a body's own hormone to reduce digestion speed, reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness so individuals reduce food intake.
People typically begin shedding pounds in the initial weeks of commencing the weekly injections.
Research indicates patients may put most of the weight back on a year later of discontinuing the treatment, as their typical appetite resume.
Being overweight or obese raises your risk for experiencing health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain malignancies.
Excess weight concerns individuals in all nations and was responsible for 3.7 million deaths worldwide in 2024, per the health agency.
